Rage of The Maelstrom
by Zekuran
Summary: Some people are born to change the world. In Naruto's case, he was born to remake it in his image.  May Kami have mercy on those who stand against him, because he can't afford to.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own Naruto. If I did, I wouldn't be getting up at four in the morning, nor would I worry about my bills. My only worry would be which anime- loving insane chick to pursue next. **

**The Peace-Bringer Trilogy book one: Rage of the Maelstrom**

Naruto Uzumaki was a small, unassuming child of ten. With short, spiky blonde hair, cerulean blue eyes, and an ever present grin, it was hard to imagine why such a boy would be doing what he was doing at the moment. Slipping from one shadow to the next, the many alleyways present in the village of Konoha aiding him as he followed after a pair of semi-lucid men, Naruto had felt the need to practice his stealth skills, and thus far, even after being followed for nearly two hours, the men in question had no idea that they were being watched. In the shadows, Naruto let a small smile cross his face as he remembered the day that he had learned the importance of stealth.

_Flashback_

_ Five year old Naruto frowned up at the woman who had taken him into her home, her family, and her heart. "But okaa-san, why would we want to hide from people?" he asked, confusion displayed on his features. _

_ The woman in question gave him a somewhat lopsided grin. "Think of it this way." She began, hands on her hips. "Do you like being hurt?" she asked, watching Naruto stiffen before rapidly shaking his head. "Well then, it's very hard to hurt what you can't see, and even harder to hurt what you can't find." The woman finished, watching understanding, then elation cross Naruto's face._

_End flashback_

Naruto frowned as the two men parted ways, trying to decide which one to follow. Making a decision, he decided to follow the one that appeared to be the more intoxicated of the two. Before long, the man was letting himself into an apartment. Naruto watched through the windows as a woman came out of one of the rooms, greeting the man with a firm hug. Ignoring the ache in his chest, as he had had a lot of practice at it, Naruto listened in on their conversation.

"I really wish you would stop staying out so late, Jisaru." the woman said, lightly scolding the man who was obviously her husband.

The man gave a good-natured shrug. "Days are long, and the only thing I have to look forward to is a scolding I get from my beautiful wife when I get home late from a bar." he joked, making the woman give a small grin. The man stretched, grunting as he did so. "I suppose that Kiriko is already asleep?" Hearing no reply, the man turned to see a small frown on his wife's face. "Tsukimi?"

"She came home later than usual. I asked her where she had been, and she said that she'd been goofing off with one her classmates." Tsukimi said, leaning against the wall as her husband ambled over to the cupboards, obviously for some sort of snack before turning in for the night.

Jisaru paused in his search for a little tidbit to satisfy the pleasant grumbling in his stomach. Turning his head, he gave his wife an odd look. "You say that as if her having friends is a bad thing?"

Tsukimi pursed her lips. "She said it was that Uzumaki child that she was with."

Jisaru, his quest for a midnight snack forgotten, gave his wife his full attention, his brow furrowed in slight annoyance. "and?"

Tsukimi mildly glared at him. "Don't 'and' me! You know I don't want her around him any more than she has to be! He's dangerous!"

"What part of her going to a school where they teach children to be trained killers is supposed to be safe in the first place?" Jisaru deadpanned, watching his wife cautiously.

"Don't give me that. There's a difference between a shinobi and a demon!" Tsukimi spat, glaring at her husband. Outside, Naruto sucked in a shallow breath.

Jisaru, beginning to grow irritated, glared right back. "Have you ever spoken to the boy? Ever watched him go about his business? He may have a demon within him, but Naruto Uzumaki is the container, not the contained!"

Slipping away from the arguing couple, Naruto hurried home, his thoughts plagued by what he had just heard. Getting to his apartment, Naruto paused in the doorway as he took in the one room. He could have had a real home. He could have stayed with the woman and her family who had taken him from the streets. Ultimately though, he couldn't. Even back then, even at six, Naruto hadn't been blind to the attention he received, or to the attention that his adoptive family had begun to receive because of him. He had left them. Sure, he saw the boy who was like his brother often enough, sharing a classroom with him made it hard not to, but it had been four years since he had spoken with either his adoptive sister, or his adoptive mother. Naruto knew, even knowing how lonely his life had been since, that he would make the same decision again, and with a smile on his face. In this case at least, they really were better off without him. Collapsing onto his bed, Naruto quickly fell into a troubled sleep.

Scene Break

Morning came, and with it came thoughts of what he had overheard the night prior. Unable to really concentrate on anything else, Naruto wandered around the village without any clear destination in mind, making a subconscious effort not to be seen. After all, it didn't hurt as much when people ignored your existence if you could pretend they didn't even know you were there. Eventually tiring, Naruto sat on a bench, lost in thought. A sudden flash in the corner of his eye informed him he was no longer alone. The feeling of a blade at his throat was accompanied by a bright, overly spunky voice. "What's up gaki?"

Turning his head, Naruto looked at his early morning companion. Anko Mitarashi was a force unto herself, her personality having all the subtlety of a hurricane. He had met her six months ago while enacting a prank on a merchant involving fifteen pounds of cheese, thirty mice, two cats, and a pair of sheep shears. When the unsuspecting merchant had triggered the prank, Naruto had laughed so hard that he had fallen from his perch on a second story roof, his fall being broken by the unwilling body of Anko. Like now, he had wound up with a kunai to his throat, while Anko had given him the scariest dressing down of his life. Somehow, the two had ended up being friends, though neither was going to complain. Friends were hard to find for the pair, and they would take what they could get.

His friend was, to say the least, complicated. The former apprentice of one of Konoha's most famous traitors, she received more than her share of grief over that fact, but there was more to it than that. In spite of the fact that the pair hadn't known each other for very long, Naruto was one of the few that Anko had willingly told about her past, or at least as much as she could remember. Her old master, a snake of a man by the name of Orochimaru, had literally left his mark on her, in the form of a curious seal on her shoulder that resembled three tomoe. However, there was even more to it than that.

Evidently, the seal on Anko's shoulder hadn't been the only thing Orochimaru had created. Stasis seals had only been theorized to be possible, and demented as he was, Orochimaru was still brilliant, and had come up with a viable one. After Anko had survived the application of the curse mark, he had used his stasis seal on her, to great effect. All higher functions of Anko's brain had immediately cut out, her heart and other organs stopping, and even the division of her cells had ground to a halt. She had been, for all intents and purposes, dead, but still alive. Anko called it her unwilling nap that happened to have lasted for seven years. While his friend should have been in her twenties, she appeared to be around the age of fourteen, two years having passed since the breaking of the seal in question, and her subsequent return to Konoha.

Still confused as to what he had heard the night before, Naruto voiced his curiosity to Anko. "Hey Anko, I got a question for you." The girl in question, having removed her blade from his throat during his musings to begin picking her teeth with it, raised an eyebrow to show that she was listening. "Well, I heard someone say that I was the container," here Anko's hand stilled, " but not the contained. They were saying that to somebody who was talking about demons. Do you know what that means?"

Anko allowed her hand to drop to her lap, all too aware of Naruto's hopeful gaze. While she didn't look it, she was old enough to remember the attack of the Kyuubi, as well as whom its container was. All at once two loyalties began to conflict within her. Loyalty to the Sandaime, whose laws she had sworn to upkeep, and loyalty to Naruto, her friend, and the unknowing object of one of these laws. The war between the two was viscous and brief. In a world where secrecy was prized, what was one more secret between two friends?

Still, while she had decided to tell him, she couldn't just come right out and say it. She would much rather avoid irking the Sandaime. Better for Naruto to be able to truthfully say that he had found out on his own. Looking out the corner of her eye, she gave him a lopsided smile. "How about we make this a little more fun?" Anko quipped, making Naruto groan in response, only causing Anko's smile to grow. "You're not going to find too much on it in the library, but look up some of the books on fuinjutsu. The answer you're looking for is mentioned in one of them as one of the purest expressions of the art." Naruto, having listened closely, nodded seriously.

Anko stood up, and grabbing Naruto by the collar of his shirt, began to drag him to the nearest set of training grounds, much to the boys consternation. "Hey, let me go! I need to go to the library!" he shouted, struggling to get out of her grip.

Anko grinned. "That's too bad, you'll have to do that later. Right now I'm feeling bubbly, so you're going to show me just how far you've come on your taijutsu." she replied, making the young blonde pout in response.

Scene Break

As it neared noon, Naruto and Anko could be found, Anko panting heavily while Naruto was gasping for as much air as he could get. Anko would be the first to admit that Naruto simply had more stamina then she did, but when she was using a tenth of the amount of energy to spar against him as he was using against her, she was guaranteed to come out on top, it just took an inordinate amount of time. Still, she figured it was good for her, forcing herself to keep up with him. She had to use steadily more and more energy to exhaust him, and her own stamina was steadily rising as well. You never knew when having the ability to go five hours straight without breaks of any kind would come in handy, and it really was five hours straight.

She and Naruto had arrived at the training ground early, around seven in the morning, before running through an exhausting set of exercises made for muscle failure while on the surface of a nearby pond for Anko's part, and the vertical surface of a tree for Naruto, Anko having taught the chakra juggernaut the tree-climbing exercise. They had continued that for three hours before throwing themselves at one another to tear each other apart with their bare hands. It was good practice for if they had to fight while exhausted.

Eventually catching their breathe, and feeling sufficiently recovered, the two friends began to make their way toward the village to get some food. However, as they were passing one of the training grounds, their eyes were draw to the form of a young man holding a katana. While Anko was impressed by the obvious restraint of skill shown by the man as he went through each kata with an exaggerated slowness, Naruto's jaw had gone slack. All fatigue seemed to leech itself from his body as he ran towards the man, startling him into stopping. Shaking her head, Anko followed after her impetuous young friend.

Spotting Anko, the man gave a slight nod of greeting before coughing into his shoulder. "What can I help you with?" he asked politely, which immediately raised the duo's estimation of the man. Few people were polite to them. Blinking, the man seemed to remember something as he coughed again. "My name is Gekko Hayate by the way." he said, his next cough seeming sheepish.

Naruto was bouncing up and down slightly, obviously excited. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and this is my best friend, Anko Mitarashi." Naruto jabbered excitedly, pulling Anko forward as he introduced her.

To his credit, despite knowing of both of them, Gekko only blinked at meeting them in person. "Again, I must ask, what can I help you with?" his voice as polite as the first time.

Naruto leveled a finger at Gekko's katana. "I want you to show me how to use that. Please!" he half-shouted, adding the please almost as an afterthought. A few months ago, Naruto would have demanded to be taught. Anko had only had to make him bleed twice before he had started being slightly more polite.

Raising an eyebrow, the ghost of a smile appeared on the man's face. Kneeling, he looked Naruto in the eye. "What would you do with what I taught you? What would wielding a blade such as I do mean to you?" he asked, the lightness of his voice somehow still carrying a serious tone.

After a few moments, Naruto, blushing lightly, leaned forward to whisper in the man's ear. Whatever he said must have impressed Gekko, because he quickly stood. "Well, in that cast, it would be absolutely appalling manners on my part to refuse you. Your friend here can join in to! That is, if she wants to?"

Anko raised her eyebrow. She was hungry, but it looked like he wanted to start now. Rocking back onto the balls of her feet, she put some thought into the matter. The man had appeared to be skilled, and in the shinobi world her treacherous master had been right in saying that knowledge was power. The more you knew, the more you could be prepared for. Kenjutsu, while not a highly favored art, was still prolific enough that most gained at least a mild understanding of it for the simple purpose of staying alive against one of its many practitioners. However, as with any of the shinobi arts, the more you knew about it, the better prepared you were to counter it in combat. Anko chewed her lip as she weighed her options. What finally clinched the decision was the fact that she knew her former master had possession of the Kusanagi no Tsurugi, and very likely knew how to use it with some skill. Sighing to herself, she nodded, pushing her hunger to the side for later as she settled herself into a comfortable position on the ground, listening to Gekko begin to talk about the maintenance of a blade.

Scene Break

It was several hours later that the three parted ways. After going over how to clean and maintain a sword of any kind, he had delved lightly into the philosophy of a swordsman, and how they were wielding an extension of themselves as a tool of judgment. After that, he had simply shown them how one held a blade, using a well maintained but obviously inferior blade for them to practice with. When they had parted company, he had seemed oddly pleased, and had offered to meet them again, which they happily acceded to.

Still, as dusk began to settle on Konoha, Naruto, despite his exhausted state, could be found making his way to the library, desperate to look for the clues that Anko had told him about. Slipping in quietly, Naruto made his way unnoticed to the section dedicated to the shinobi arts. True, there was little enough here on actual techniques, merely a hint here and there, and even those only at the most basic and generic ones, it did hold a surprisingly large amount of information on just about every single one of the shinobi arts. Naruto smiled tiredly as he remembered how scandalized he'd been when he'd found there were no techniques in the library, but he supposed it made sense, as techniques of any kind could be deemed as information sensitive to the security of the village. Shrugging off his exhaustion, he began to skim through the titles, pulling out anything that seemed to deal with fuinjutsu.

Winding up with nearly a dozen books on the table, Naruto groaned, knowing his night was far from over. For the next several hours, Naruto looked through every book, his patience, what little that he had, finally paying off as he happened across what he was looking for in one of them. Anko was right, there wasn't much on it. Naruto leaned back as he began to read.

** '-Amongst the many and varied uses of fuinjutsu, perhaps the purest form that this ancient art can take is that of the jinchurriki. The so called 'power of human sacrifice', these are men and women who hold the might of the nine bijuu sealed away within them, often carrying the malevolent chakra of their literal inner demons without any around them being the wiser. Jinchurriki are normally marked out by having vast chakra reserves, extraordinary stamina, chakra more potent than the average shinobi, and above average health. No matter their situation, jinchurriki are rarely received well by those around them, and often lead lonely lives as little more than political tools, deterrents against war from enemy powers, a life that precious few of them ever find any true purpose in.- excerpt from Exotic Arts: A Thesis On Fuinjutsu'**

Closing the book, Naruto drew in a ragged breathe. Why nobody had ever told him was his first thought, followed immediately after by why him at all? Later on in his life, he would deem his thoughts as petty, as he had wished for it to have been anybody but him, but others would not be so quick to agree. Any child, succored on loneliness and drowned in mistrust and contempt, who had broken his teeth on the dregs of others hate, could be forgiven a moments pettiness.

Unable to stand, Naruto hit his knees, hand reaching up to clutch at his chest, his heart aching as it never had before. Tears attempted to well up and fall, but Naruto furiously held them back. Crying fixed nothing, all it ever did was make things worse. That was a truth he had learned a long time ago. Naruto's shoulders shook with the effort of holding back the tidal wave of emotion crashing around him, struggling to bottle all he felt and hide it away from the world.

Unbeknownst to Naruto, in his secluded corner, the civilian run library had closed a few hours ago, and the building was devoid of all but Naruto and one other. Tired as she was, Anko had still perched herself on the top of a bookcase, and had seen the hammer blow hit Naruto. Unable to stop herself, Anko leapt down, landing in front of the stricken Naruto. Looking up to see who was in front of him, Anko was momentarily taken off-guard when the ten year old threw himself into her arms, shoulders shaking, and every muscle in his body quivering. There were no tears, no sobs, no sounds of grief ever came from Naruto's body. Her impassive features softening for a moment, Anko wrapped her arms around the boy. Holding him lightly, she waited patiently until Naruto fell into a restless sleep.

Once he was asleep, Anko stood. Leaving the library, she began to walk to her home. While she knew where Naruto lived, being left alone right now would be the worst possible thing she could do. No, the blonde bundle of energy was going to need a friend when he woke up, and Anko had no problems with being that friend.

Scene Break

Early morning light streamed through a window, illuminating the small form of a blonde child curled up in the lap of his best friend, who was herself siting on a bed with her back against the wall and snoring lightly, though the sounds were more along the lines of breathy inhalations than anything else. As the early morning progressed without fail into midmorning, the two on the bed began to stir. Anko was the first one awake, and she watched with hidden trepidation as Naruto opened his eyes. Clearing her throat, she got his attention, making the boy blush at where he was. "So, I take it that you found what you were looking for?" she asked, looking at him carefully.

Making a note of how warm he felt, Naruto borrowed deeper into Anko's arms. "Yeah." Naruto replied, eyes saddening momentarily.

Amused, Anko shook him lightly. "If it helps," she began, aware that all of Naruto's attention was on her, "I'll always be your friend." Normally, Anko was whole-heartedly against such sappiness, feeling it drastically out of character for her, but watching the joy all but begin to radiate from her little friend made it well worth it in her opinion She couldn't help but shake her head at him. Sometimes his moods swung so fast you would think he was bipolar. Feeling Naruto burrowing as deeply into her arms as he could, she shook him again. "Gaki, if this ever leaves this room," here she gave an evil laugh, "I _will_ castrate you myself. Understand?" Smiling, Naruto nodded.

For a time, the two were still, Naruto drawing on Anko's comforting presence like a leech. Eventually, Anko spoke again. "Naruto." she said, rousing him from his slight stupor, "What exactly do you intend to do now?"

Naruto pulled his head back, looking Anko in the eye. For perhaps the first time in her life, Anko was shocked totally speechless by what she saw. Raw determination filled Naruto's eyes. "I'm going to change it.!" he declared. "I'm going to change the world. I'm going to make them see the jinchurriki as more than weapons!" Such was the strength of conviction in his voice that Anko didn't doubt for one second that he would be able to do as he said.

Grinning widely, Anko met Naruto's determination with more than a little of her own. "Well then, that's probably going to be dangerous eventually, and knowing you, you'll just do it anyway. You're going to need some help changing the entire world. Count me in!"

Naruto's elated shout was her only reply, and really, it was the only one that she cared about anyway. All too soon, the sleepy world of shadows around them would find itself pitted against Fate's greatest foe. A Child of Destiny had taken his first steps, and they would eventually rock the world to its core.

**A.N. I figured that I'd try to rewrite my Naruto fic as well. Really, comparing the two, I am much more satisfied with this one over my last one, but please, tell me what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I couldn't help but be astounded by the sheer number of people who like this story. Maybe it's because it's a rewrite of my most popular story, but I feel that this will eclipse that one pretty easily, which, admittedly, was the intention. A lot of people love the way I redid some of the things, letting go of some of the humor in order to create a better presentation of the characters. Thank you all. Without further ado, here is the second chapter of Rage of The Maelstrom (I learned how to spell! Who's a good boy?)**

**Disclaimer: Caution, Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto, henceforth known as the asshole that kills all the hot chicks, but Rage of The Maelstrom has taken his world and run it through my diseased mind. Viewer discretion is advised.**

Nearly three years can change anyone, that much was fact, but the change wrought on Naruto was one of particular note. Sitting in the back of the classroom as Iruka Umino lectured them all on what was expected of them now that they were genin of Konoha, the adolescent boy absentmindedly fingered the hitiate lung around his neck. From an outsider's perspective, Naruto's changes were noteworthy, at least in the physical sense. At Anko's behest, he had ditched his old orange jumpsuit; instead, he had donned normal shinobi pants, the ankles taped in red bandages, a zipper front mesh shirt tucked into his pants with sleeves that ended at his elbows, a dark, indigo blue vest worn over it, and a pair of crimson bracers on his forearms. The most glaring change was the sword worn slung on his back. With an actual blade length of twenty inches, it was shorter than the average katana, while maintaining a very slight curve over the length of the blade. Many had ridiculed Naruto the first time he had worn it to class, but had grown tired of it quickly, as all Naruto would do was stare blankly at them.

A smile crossed Naruto's lips as he thought of the week prior, when the graduation exam had taken place. Unable to do the Bunshin, he had failed for the third time. Without missing a beat, he had challenged Mizuki to a no holds barred sparring match, with his right to be a genin on the line. It only made sense, he had reasoned, that if he beat Mizuki, a well-seasoned chunin, that he at least be made a genin. The man had seemed oddly eager, but Iruka had only caved once a few legalities had been observed, mainly signing hastily drawn up legal documents absolving the other of any blame should the worst come to pass and they die. It was a change that Mizuki had pushed for, making his eagerness for the dual even stranger. Still, Naruto could only hope he accepted the gift basket he had sent the man. Mizuki had been very skilled, forcing Naruto to draw his sword. Mizuki had, unfortunately, lost his right hand along with much of his right forearm, as well as two fingers on his left hand. Naruto couldn't help but feel that Mizuki's career as a shinobi ending as his began was a bad omen, but he shrugged it off.

Naruto rolled his neck as Iruka began to call off names, listing the teams one by one. Naruto was only paying a minimal amount of attention, enough to note his old friend Kiriko Sanegawa being placed on the same team as Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha, to which he winced in sympathy, but when Iruka evidently came to the end of the list in his hand and his name still hadn't been called, he raised an eyebrow.

He was not the only one to notice the absence of his name. "Ha, take that Naruto; you're getting placed in the reserves!" Sakura Haruno, a pink hared girl with an uncomfortably loud voice, screeched.

Naruto sighed. He had once liked the girl, he really had. His interest had been known to everybody around them, but Sakura had shot him down time and time again, usually with her fist. It wasn't like he had been asking for much, at the time all he had wanted was somebody to play with him. It seemed though, that Sakura was a selfish person at heart, and didn't want to take the risk of befriending the outcast in their class. Shortly after he had met Anko, all interest in Sakura had left him; something that the girl seemed to think was a personal slight against her. Naruto shook his head. He'd never be able to understand woman. If she had liked the attention, she shouldn't have acted like that. Granted, he'd lost count of the number of times Anko had cut him, but there was a pleasant camaraderie and genuine care from both sides, which had been missing between him and Sakura. He was pulled from his musing by Iruka.

"Thank you for reminding me Sakura," Iruka said, subtly admonishing the girl before he turned his attention to Naruto. "Naruto, you have been apprenticed. Your teacher should be here soon." As soon as he finished talking, he walked out of the room, whispers breaking out immediately. Naruto didn't blame them, being apprenticed was no small thing. Only jonin, and generally only the strong ones at that, could take apprentices. Whatever newly minted genin they were going for had to either be affiliated with a clan, or be supported by one of the clan leaders of Konoha. It spoke a great deal of an academy graduates potential if they were apprenticed straight out of the academy. He already knew who the jonin in question was. Anko had passed her Jonin Exams last year, with a little political maneuvering on Naruto's part. She had already had the skill, Naruto had just guilt-tripped the Hokage into helping her promotion go through.

Naruto was trying to remember just what clan-head he was in the good graces of when somebody sat next to him. Looking out the corner of his eye, he smiled slightly as he took in the taller form of Kiba Inuzuka. Realization struck him and he growled. "She did it, didn't she?"

Kiba nodded, already knowing what he was talking about. "It's more than that Naruto. She publically named you Pack Friend to the Inuzuka."

Any retort Naruto had been about to say stopped in his throat at Kiba's words. She had named him Pack Friend? The simplicity of the title was belied by its importance. A Pack Friend was somebody who, without being an Inuzuka themselves, had shown absolute selflessness for the betterment of the Inuzuka Clan, holding its wellbeing far above their own. Rumor had it the Nidaime had been a Pack Friend, and the Inuzuka had joined Konoha because of that fact. If there was any truth at all to that statement, it showed very well how the Inuzuka repaid loyalty shown to them.

Kiba took Naruto's silence to continue on. "They both miss you. They know why you left, and they don't care anymore. For that matter, I don't care anymore. No matter where you go or what you do…" he began

"..You'll always be family, pack through and through." Naruto finished, fighting to swallow the odd lump in his throat. "Well, since it's out of my hands now, I should probably visit then, huh?"

Kiba grinned. "Just so you know, when you do, she's going to kick the ever living shit out of you."

Naruto answered with a grin of his own. "Looking forward to it." Oddly enough, he actually was. A good intentioned ass kicking never hurt anyone, well, at least not permanently.

Kiba said his goodbyes as he left with his team to eat lunch, leaving Naruto to stew in his thoughts. Naruto smiled softly as he realized that at long last, he'd finally be able go _home_, at least for a time.

Scene Break

As soon as lunch was over, the new genin filed back into the classroom. The last person had barely sat down before everyone, outside of Naruto, who only smiled fondly; dove for cover as a large black ball came bursting through the window. Four kunai were throw as it unfurled, pinning the corners to the wall, allowing the class to read the writing on it **'Behold the sexy, single, and epically awesome Anko Mitarashi, Jonin of Konohagakure No Sato!'** There, standing proudly in front of the banner, was Anko herself, dressed as always in her normal fishnet bodysuit, rust orange skirt, tan trench coat, and a pair of grieves, hitiate proudly donned on her forehead and hair in its normal spiky hairdo. The overall effect was very entertaining as Naruto stood and applauded his best friend, leading Kiba, Choji, and his old friend Kiriko to do the same, Kiba and Kiriko with a pair of identical smirks, and Choji with an astonished grin.

**A.N. We break to give you this exclusive speech from the author!**

**My pet peeve about Anko in fan fictions. JoninTokubetsu/Special Jonin**

**A special Jonin is somebody who has jonin level skills in some areas, rather than all areas. People always describe her as outranking Kakashi, when it's quite the reverse. Also, there is no such rank as Elite or High Jonin. Some jonin are better than others, but the rank is the same.**

**Mini A.N. over, back to the show.**

Pretending to be demure, which she didn't do very well, Anko bowed, smiling at her friends, having met Kiriko before, and grinning at Choji and Kiba. The moment was interrupted by an astonished voice that was two parts screech, three parts useless. "Who the hell is this whore!" In a flash of movement, several people's positions had changed, much to the surprise of everyone on the classroom. Anko was standing in front of Naruto with a kunai to his throat, with Kiriko having locked both his arms behind his back. Ignoring the kunai as it began to cut into his skin, Naruto jerked his head to the side and locked rage-filled eyes onto Sakura's gaze for a split second, effortlessly communicating just how lucky she was, before he relaxed, making Anko nod, allowing Kiriko to let go of his arms.

Turning, Naruto grabbed Kiriko's shoulder, locking eyes with her. Kiriko nodded, the message all too clear. Either she would handle her teammate, or Naruto would. Naruto had no mercy for those who belittled his friends, his personality completely flipping as he became violent and bloodthirsty. If he was to fully handle the situation presented him, Sakura would likely be crippled, assuming she survived at all. It was one of a few marks left on him from previous years.

Seeing Anko perched on the edge of a desk and staring pointedly at him, Naruto sat at that desk, preparing for his scolding. "You over-reacted. I know how I look, and I do it on purpose. Her reaction is the fall-out I get for catching idiots blushing when they should be fighting. You know I don't care, so you shouldn't either, " she scolded lightly, making him wince a little. He didn't like disappointing those closest to him, and he could tell he had disappointed her by attacking a loyal comrade.

"I'm sorry," was all that he could offer. "I'm working on it." Anko locked eyes with him, before nodding minutely. The fact that she and Kiriko had been able to stop him at all was proof of how much effort he had put into his self-control. Two years ago, he'd have torn into the girl in spite of them. But then again, he had been so different then, both from the Naruto she had met, and the Naruto he had become, lashing out at all but a few, like a wounded animal trying to nurse its wounds. Seeing Naruto like that had been more painful to her then she would ever admit, made worse by the fact that it was ultimately her fault he had ended up like that, and no amount of persuasion on Naruto's part could convince her otherwise.

Shaking her head, Anko pulled herself away from those distressing thoughts. "Anyway, were going to hang around here for a bit. We need to meet with the other senseis."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

Anko grinned. "Because I refuse to be the only one you kick the crap out of on a routine basis. Besides, if I set you loose on the other brats, I'll get all kinds of kudos for training you when you beat them."

Naruto's grin was almost as vicious as Anko's was prone to being. "They don't need to know that me and you have technically been training each other for the last few years, do they?" he asked rhetorically, making Anko smirk. Naruto, while never outright hiding his skills, never drew attention to them either, doing just enough to score well in the academy. While others thought he was just a talented genin, Anko knew that without even using his best combat-oriented skill he was a solid chunin level, but once he drew his blade, Anko could count on one hand the number of people she knew who could go up against him and come out unscathed. Outside the battlefield, Naruto was scarily intelligent. Seeking to understand more about what it was to be a jinchurriki, Naruto had delved deeply into fuinjutsu over the last three years, finding himself to be an absolute prodigy of the art. So confidant was she in Naruto's skill, Anko would lay a night in her bed on the line against anybody who thought they could beat Naruto, though she was sure that a body would need to be buried after Naruto got through with them.

That was the only hiccup in hers and Naruto's relationship. She knew that he only scared off potential boyfriends because he was worried about her, but damnit, she had itches that needed to be scratched and no desire to die a virgin, something that proving more and more likely, as she wasn't going to lose her virginity on a one night stand, and Naruto scared any guy that might be interested away. It was irritating and had made her want to kill him on more than one occasion, but still, it was nice that someone cared.

Moving from her perch on the desk, Anko took a seat next to Naruto, the pair reclining as they waited for the other genin to be collected by their senseis. Whenever one came in, Anko would go and exchange a few words with them before taking her seat. Only a few really stood out, those being Asuma Sarutobi, a former member of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, and an easygoing man if rumor was to be believed, and Kurenai Yuuhi, an admittedly beautiful kuniochi who seemed to naturally try to mother those around her, something Anko had personal experience with. Anko was fairly sure that she would be an amazing mother someday. The two of them had come in one right after the other, with Asuma's eyes giving Kurenai's body near continuous once-overs when he thought no one was looking, and going by the slight smirk to Kurenai's lips, she knew about them, but was paying it no mind.

Finally, there was just Anko, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kiriko left as all of them waited for team sevens sensei. They waited, and waited, and waited. Anko was dozing, using Naruto's shoulder as an impromptu pillow, when Kiriko ambled over, having spent the last two and a half hours trying to get Sasuke to talk, and to get Sakura to talk about anything that wasn't Sasuke. Not an easy task. Getting sick of it, she walked over to her friends. Seeing Anko drooling slightly on Naruto's shoulder, she grinned. Taking a deep breathe, she bent over to shout in Anko's ear, giddy at the prospect of her prank. "Do it and I'll cut off our breasts." Anko said without opening her eyes.

Kiriko let out her breath with a lame whooshing sound, grabbing her chest protectively. She was a bit of an early bloomer, something that annoyed her to no end, and as such had a large chest for her age. Kiriko was the tallest girl in the class, with deeply tanned skin, violet eyes, and chestnut brown hair that was held back in a ponytail that hung to her lower back. Her attire was at once practical and provocative, consisting of shinobi pants, taping the ends with violet combat bandages to go with the purple skirt she wore over the pants. She also had a black, skin tight, tank top that rode high enough to reveal her flat stomach, an enticingly eye catching view that had helped her win more than a few sparring matches. She had her hands wrapped from the middle of her fingers back to her elbow in yet more violet combat bandages and a pair of black, fingerless, gloves.

The most unique part about her appearance though was the set of fang like tattoos running across her forehead. Resembling the upper jaw of some carnivorous beast, the smallest tattoos were an inch long, with the two largest, one on either temple, going down to her cheekbones. Some of Naruto's experiments in fuinjutsu were very delicate, as she had found, especially those dealing with his studies into Anko's curse-mark. While looking for Naruto, she had gone into his apartment and started poking around. She had found herself at the focal point for a massive amount of energy, and had quickly passed out. When Naruto had arrived at his home three hours later, it had been to find Kiriko's unconscious body, along with her new additions. Anko had been far from pleased with him, but Kiriko thought it was awesome, so she had let it go. The experiment Kiriko had upset, while a stab at replicating the curse mark, had very few of its hallmarks. The seal that resulted, which Kiriko had dubbed the Feral Seal, had none of the addictive qualities of the curse mark, nor did it break the body down. What it did was unconsciously enhance chakra potency and reserves, and when consciously activated, enhanced strength, dexterity, and constitution, leading Kiriko to be far more effective at close quarters. After further study, they had dubbed her seal the Wolfing Feral Mark and left it at that.

Cracking her neck, Kiriko looked at Naruto. "Shiki says I should have let you tear her apart, and after two hours in Sakura's company, I'm inclined to agree." she said. Another change wrought by Naruto's seal had been the birth of a second mind within Kiriko's own. Shiki was vindictive, bloodthirsty, and enjoyed subtlety, as opposed to Kiriko's normally kind demeanor and penchant for the obvious. While Kiriko was the dominant personality, the two could switch out who was in control at a moment's notice, resulting in a wildly changing style of battle.

"Well, tell Shiki Anko said no." Naruto replied, making the girl grin as she took her seat.

"She heard. I didn't know that I knew all those words," here she paused, head cocked to the side. "Is it even possible for a human spine to do that? Huh, that could actually be fun." she muttered to herself. Kiriko's only fault was that she and Shiki were both a little boy crazy, though not to the extent of the fan girls. No, rather than change who she was, if she saw a boy she liked she was more inclined to molest them than change herself for them, not that that had ever happened, but Naruto was sure that if Kiba didn't get his head out of his ass, it would. How that boy missed the sheer amount of pheromones the girl put out when she saw him he'd never know. If he could smell them, then he knew damn sure that Kiba could smell them, though like a true kuniochi Kiriko never gave away the slightest amount of attraction in her body language.

Finally, Team Seven's sensei came. For a legendary shinobi, Kakashi's appearance was very underwhelming, though Naruto and Anko both knew that was probably what he was aiming for. When Anko told him of the situation with her and Naruto possibly training with them, he had simply eye smiled and told her that he was likely going to be sending them back to the academy, but thanks for the heads up. Naruto couldn't help but laugh at the glare that Kiriko had leveled at her new teacher, tattoos glowing with a sickly green light. If it had been anybody else, they'd have probably shit themselves, but all Kakashi had done was widen his eye at the sight. Naruto genuinely pitied him, because he was reasonably sue that Kiriko had given Shiki control.

Scene Break

"Come on gaki, you're going to love this." Anko whispered gleefully as she dragged Naruto through the expanse of the jonin library. The jonin library was the culmination of almost all of Konoha's non-forbidden jutsu's, and generally required one to be of jonin rank to enter. The exact location was changed bi-weekly, making it hard to pin down for anybody attempting to infiltrate it. This was the last day that it would be in its current location, which was the only reason why Naruto had been allowed entrance, despite having his sensei for a grand total of five hours.

Naruto sighed. "Anko, what in the hell are we looking for?" he asked. He was tired, achy, and wanted to either sleep or for Anko to get to the point. Besides, he had to finish Anko's gifts, and convince her to be there when he returned to the Inuzuka clan hold.

Anko just latched onto his arm a dragged him faster. Naruto lost count of the number of objects he hit with his head, but he knew without a doubt that Anko had done it on purpose. Finally, she deposited him on the ground in front of a mostly empty shelf with just one large scroll on it. "Okay gaki, listen up. Originally, I wanted you to sign the snake contract. Generally less hassle, but I can't get a hold of it from the snake that's keeping it for the moment, so I was a little bummed out. But then I came through here and saw this little beauty here," pausing, she gestured at the scroll on the shelf. "It may only be a tracking summon, but don't let that fool you. Tracking summons can be dead useful in combat, whether as distractions or active attackers. It's usually an idiot that discounts a tracking summon in combat, and they usually wind up being dead idiots."

At Anko's gesture, Naruto grabbed the scroll, holding it almost reverently. Genuine summoning contracts were a big deal, seeing as there was only so many to go around. What bugged him was why this one didn't have a holder at the moment. Seeing his face, Anko guessed rather accurately what he was thinking. "This one in particular hasn't had an active holder in nine years, since its last holder died. The summon in question lost popularity when you were born, but why let such an asset go to waste, not to mention all the mental scars you'll be causing for other Konoha nin!" she started seriously, finishing with a gleeful chime in her voice.

Understanding dawned on Naruto immediately. "Foxes." he muttered, looking at the scroll with an appraising eye. Anko didn't miss the mischievous gleam, and almost crowed with delight. She loved it when Naruto was like that, it made for some of the most amusing days that she could remember.

Nodding enthusiastically, Anko was almost vibrating with excitement. "Normally summoning contracts wouldn't be in here, no matter what it summons, because they _are_ a sensitive material, but I convinced Hokage-sama to allow you to sign the scroll. It just had to stay in here until you did."

Nodding, Naruto unfurled the scroll,, and following Anko's instructions, bit his thumb before writing his name on the scroll with the bloody appendage, finishing with the bloody imprints of all the digits on his right hand. Sealing the scroll into a smaller one he kept on him, Naruto stood up and looked at Anko. "Hey, I have a favor to ask."

That caught Anko's attention. Naruto never asked for favors unless it was very important. "What's up gaki?"

Naruto shuffled slightly. "There's a couple people I want you to meet tomorrow, so If you wouldn't mind?" he asked, the look on his face somewhat hopeful.

Somebody that Naruto wanted her to meet? Anko smiled before nodding at her young 'student'. That thought still gave her a kick. Naruto could likely beat her if her really wanted to, though the effort would cost him a lot of blood in the process, but she was sure that he'd only scratched the surface of his potential, potential that would have been stunted by anybody else. Rubbing his head fondly, and laughing at the scowl that crossed his face, Anko exited the library, sure that interesting times were ahead.


	3. Chapter 3

**A.N I've received some mixed reviews for this fic, and I'd like to address a few people. **

**To Doom Marine 54: thank you for taking the time to read the first chapter, now if you would be so kind as to **** the hell off? Really, that's all I have to say. Your flame wasn't constructive in any way, pointing out a perceived flaw in my story. Granted, it is a popular story gimmick, but hey, that's cause it works. I noticed that you yourself have no stories of your own, so why don't you see what emotions flow most naturally for you by setting pen to paper before criticizing others work?**

**To Tsukune08: I am happy that you like the fic, and I would recommend Crimson Wind Red Dream and Chance to anybody out there. Seriously, my fellow readers, if you like good storyline and good romance, these two fics are the place to look.**

**To Dezzal: Assuming your still reading this fic, I'm sorry if you don't like Kiriko. I tried to give her some depth as well as a tight connection to Naruto through the Feral Mark, as well as explain the marks detriments, as it literally inverted her personality by creating Shiki. You will be seeing more of her as the story goes on. I'm sure I hinted at a side romance involving her?**

**To Psudocode Samurai: Yo man, it's always nice to have a talented writer like you comment on my stuff. Now, you just need to update to! By the way, did I tell you that I loved the last chapter of Shards yet? For those of you looking for good stories, and by good, I mean really good, check out Shards, To Live Forever, and Rapture Is Just The Beginning by this guy right here.**

**To Vandenbz: Thank you for the offer to beta, but it seems whenever I get a story beta'd, I immediately lose interest in updating it, like its lost that special something that makes it mine. Also, while his experience won't be so severe, nor leave as many scars, there is still going to be a traumatic experience in Naruto's past. As to what it is, well, I have plans, and I'm not telling!**

**Disclaimer: Me no own Naruto cause Kishimoto-sama is a big m-m-meanie and w-w-won't-t share h-h-his-s toys w-w-with m-m-me-e! wah!**

Anko sat up slowly, holding her pounding head as she fought to keep whatever was in her stomach from making a valiant rush toward the nearest escape hatch. Failing spectacularly, she somehow managed to coax her legs to remain stable enough for her to sprint to the bathroom. Moments later the sound of retching filled her small apartment, interspersed by the pitiful moans of somebody trying to eject their stomach from their mouth.

Rinsing her mouth out in the sink, Anko stood to take in her appearance. Her sandals and greaves had been removed, along with her trench coat, leaving her in her armor-weave mesh and rust orange skirt. On her collarbone she could clearly make out the distinctive red tone of a hickey forming. Frowning, she tried to remember the previous day, rubbing her temples as her head started pounding with resentment at having to think. She could clearly remember the early morning events of the previous day.

_ Flashback_

_ Naruto fidgeted nervously as he and Anko came within sight of what those who resided there affectionately called The Den. Anko couldn't help but grin at his obvious discomfort. "So gaki, what's got you twitching worse than a junkie whose gone to long without his fix?"_

_ Naruto's fidgeting only got more pronounced. "Before I met you," he began, immediately piquing Anko's interest, as he rarely discussed his life before meeting her, "the Inuzuka were all but my family. I was even officially offered a place within the clan."_

_ That caught Anko somewhat flat-footed. To be offered a place within a clan was no small matter. It was an honor of the highest order, superseded by few others. "So what happened? Word on the street for the last few years was that the Inuzuka secretly despised you?" It was true, which was why she had been surprised when Tsume Inuzuka, the clan matriarch, had offered to support her in her bid to become Naruto's master. _

_ Naruto's answering smile was decidedly mirthless. "Who do you think helped spread those rumors?" he asked, before rolling his shoulders. Seeing Anko's inquisitive eyes, he sighed. "It's really not that great of a story. The civilian populace learned where I was living, and the Inuzuka began to suffer for it. Not directly, mind you, but outside of their shinobi duties, the Inuzuka also maintain the best veterinary clinic in Konoha. Once my presence amongst them was discovered, business dried up for them overnight. Without the money from the clinic, the clan was in serious danger of going bankrupt. I was the problem, so I left. When the civilians found out, business started up again for the Inuzuka."_

_ "What the impudent pup has neglected to mention is that he purposefully made it seem as if we hated him, and has not spoken to anyone from the clan, outside that puppy Kiba, in nearly seven years." came a gruff voice from their left, making Anko tense even as Naruto perked up. _

_ The pair turned quickly, only to see a rather large dog or wolf, Anko wasn't sure which, with an eye patch. Standing, the dog stretched before padding over to Naruto, fixing the young blonde with a rather piercing gaze, one far to intelligent for a normal animal. "Few and far between are those that would rob themselves of a dream for the betterment of others. That is why Tsume named you Pack Friend." the doge growled, making Naruto shuffle, uncomfortable with the compliment._

_ Anko smiled softly at her friend. She knew him well enough to know that his goal of changing how the world saw jinchurriki was just that, a goal. What he had always dreamed of was a family of his own. Thinking of that made the already deep respect for her younger friend grow more still. For Naruto to walk away from a chance at a family? Anko's smile widened. Few and far between indeed._

_ The large dog growled, a deep, rumbling sound that vibrated in the pair's chests. Keeping its eyes squarely on Naruto, it continued. "She's angry beyond all reason at you boy. I doubt that you'll be walking away after she's done with you." Seeing Naruto shiver, the dog grinned before continuing. "Still, she's also very proud of you, and as soon as she's vented a little bit, is probably going to welcome you back with open arms."_

_ Naruto smiled slightly. "Well, I might as well get his over with, huh?" he said out loud to no one in particular as he started walking towards The Den again, the air of a happily doomed man about him._

_ Arriving at the door, Naruto had barely raised his hand to knock on the door when it was thrown open by a woman with deeply feral and rugged features. Tsume Inuzuka had probably been a great beauty in her youth, but Anko guessed that a lifetime of scaring the shit out of everyone around her had left its mark on her, causing many to feel apprehension and no small amount of fear in her presence, even when she was relaxed. Anko couldn't help but smile. She wanted to be just like her when she grew up._

_ Gulping slightly, Naruto let the happiness he felt at finally being home overwhelm him, enfolding him in a soft, warm embrace as a genuinely happy smile grew on his face, and he opened his arms, ready for whatever fate brought. Tsume's reaction was exactly what he had expected._

_ Anko looked on as Naruto opened his arms. She was sure that if Tsume actually hugged Naruto that she might actually cry. What happened next left Anko slack-jawed in shock even as it firmly cemented Tsume Inuzuka as her personal hero in her mind. _

_ The haymaker that Tsume had thrown had been wicked fast, almost invisible to Anko's eyes, and must have packed quite a punch, literally, as it lifted Naruto bodily from his feet and sent him flying almost ten feet before he reencountered the ground, his body leaving a slight crater on impact. Anko knew Naruto wore weights almost constantly, and after doing the calculations in her head, paled slightly as she wondered two things: One, how was Naruto's jaw still attached, and two, how was Tsume's hand not shattered?_

_ Seeing Tsume advancing on Naruto, Anko almost intervened, but two things that she noticed stopped her. The first was the large, eye patch wearing, dog that was currently poised to charge at her, and the other was the fact that even as Tsume began to tear into Naruto with a ferocity that made even Anko balk, besides a pained grimace or two, Naruto never let that soft, happy smile leave his face. Still, Anko couldn't help but grin at the dog as she straightened up, crossing her arms as she did so._

_ Kuromaru wondered what the strange kuniochi was grinning about. It was unnerving, and had him sure that she would try something. However, as he went to widen his stance, he felt a slight pressure on the sides of his paws. Glancing down, his single eye widened as he took in the four kunai placed to the outside of each of his paws, each bearing the kuniochi's scent. Looking up, he gave a wolfish grin. A definite message that she wasn't to be underestimated. Kuromaru's grin widened. Oh yes, he liked this one._

_ A few minutes later it was all over. Tsume stood tall, panting as she looked down at Naruto's bleeding form. Cracking an eye, Naruto looked up at Tsume. "It feels good to be home, okaa-san." he said, grinning happily._

_ An answering grin formed on Tsume's lips. "It's good that your finally home pup." she said carefully. Naruto nodded. It was as close as Tsume would let herself get to saying that she had missed him. If he was looking for kindness in the Inuzuka family, then he had taken a wrong turn at some point, and Naruto was just fine with that. Openly kind and compassionate or not, they still cared about him, they were still his family._

_ Naruto was pulled from his reverie by a jerking sensation as Tsume yanked him off the ground by the collar of his vest, grunting at the effort required. Shaking her head, she leveled her gaze on Anko and raised an eyebrow at the look that was akin to hero-worship that she was getting from the girl._

_ Disregarding Tsume almost entirely, Anko stepped forward, poking at Naruto's mostly limp body, drawing a pained glare from the boy. Clapping, she giggled excitedly as she looked at Tsume. "I'm going to be just like you one day!" she chirped brightly, making the feral woman raise an eyebrow._

_ Looking at the girl that had become Naruto's master, Tsume was unsure for a moment if the decision to support her in that endeavor had been the right one. Bringing Naruto closer, the two exchanged looks. "Pup, are you entirely sure she's all there?" she asked, noticing Anko's slight pout. She also didn't miss the slightly mischievous gleam in Naruto's eyes._

_ "Oh," the boy began casually, or at least as casually as you can while your feet are swinging two feet off the ground, "She's really cool, but has these moments of twisted insanity," pausing, he grinned at Anko as she glared at him, "but she's great all the same."_

_ Tsume grinned at the byplay between the two. The friendship between the two was strong, and any friend of Naruto's was deserving of more than a little respect. "Well all right then." Straightening her arm, Tsume dropped Naruto unceremoniously on the ground. "You might as well stay there. Hana's coming out next, and she might go easier if your already on the ground and looking pathetic." she said, stressing the 'might' as if she believed there was a snowball's chance in hell of that actually happening. Turning, she headed back inside to send out her daughter, leaving her surrogate son laying on the ground, grinning like a loon._

_end flashback_

After that, everything started to get harder to remember. After the two female Inuzuka had finished extracting their pound of flesh from Naruto in an almost literal sense, there had been a great deal of celebration. The Inuzuka clan knew how to throw a party, and the declaration of a new Pack Friend was too good an excuse to pass up. Anko remembered that there had been a _lot_ of sake present, and she was sure she's imbibed far more than her fair share. She stiffened as a hazy memory of flirting with a rather handsome Inuzuka teenager flitted through her head, followed closely by a memory of a rather heated make-out session with said Inuzuka. That must have been where she got the hickey, Anko realized, only to push that memory away as she tried to remember if she had done anything else. She remembered him getting handsy towards the end, as well as fairly insistent.

Desperate now to remember, Anko racked her aching head for even the slightest memory beyond that of what had happened the night before, but could only remember hearing someone say something indistinct, and a sharp thrill going up her spine before everything went black. Chewing on a fingernail nervously, Anko exited the bathroom, only to stop as she caught sight of something she had missed before. Sitting in a chair next to her bed with his arms crossed and his chin resting on his chest was Naruto. With his vest, and the weights in it, slung on the back of the chair and his sword resting in his hand, she immediately felt better. Naruto had been there, and even if she got in over her head, she knew he had her back, and wouldn't let her do anything stupid. Looking at the bed, Anko grinned before stumbling over to Naruto. Carefully removing the sword from his hand and sheathing it, Anko gently lifted his small body onto the bed before snuggling in beside him, happy to have someone to trust unconditionally.

Scene break

Naruto inhaled deeply as he woke up, idly wondering why the chair felt a _lot_ better than when he had fallen asleep. Cracking an eye, realized that he had somehow ended up on the bed. His confusion grew as he registered a weight on his chest. Glancing down, both eyes shot wide as he recognized the mop of black hair on his chest. He smiled as he looked at Anko, who was currently drooling an overly large amount of saliva onto his chest. Moaning slightly, the eccentric kuniochi woke up. Sleepily raising her head, her barely cracked eyes shot wide as they made contact with Naruto's.

Anko was cursing internally as she realized he had woken up before her. Embarrassed by the large amount of drool on her chin, and almost humiliated by the even larger amount of drool on his armor-weave mesh shirt, Anko's mind raced before settling on a plan to distract Naruto from how he had wound up in her bed.

Naruto felt a great deal of trepidation as Anko's eyes narrowed. feeling a slight rustling, he couldn't help but notice as several large snakes, at least five feet long, made themselves known as they began to rise above the pair, hissing and with venom dripping from their fangs. Looking at Anko, Naruto withheld a sigh. "Is this because I slept in your bed with you, which I don't know how that happened by the way, or because I saw how much you drool in your sleep?" Noting that while Anko's expression didn't change, a faint red hue dusted itself across her cheeks as he said 'drool', Naruto turned his attention to the snakes, which were preparing to strike. "Carry on then."

Scene Break

"Come on Naruto, it's not like the venom is that bad!" Anko exclaimed, jumping up and down in irritation at her apprentice's slow speed. Groaning in frustration, Anko walked into the Hokage's Tower.

Walking with a distinct limp, Naruto slowly made his way to the Tower. Parts of his skin were discolored a light grey, while other places on his body bore distinct lumps, courtesy of the six-poison cocktail he had received three hours ago. He had thought that he would be able to get out of it, but Anko hadn't played fair, racking him as he tried to make good his escape, and leaving him helpless to defend himself against her venomous compatriots. Even as the scaly predators descended on him, he'd smiled. Classic Anko.

Now, three hours later, he wasn't feeling quite as magnanimous, muttering darkly about the snakes, poison, immunity levels, and the deficiencies and vulnerabilities of a human body in general. Slowly limping up the stairs, Naruto paused as he heard more voices than just Anko's on the other side of the door, sighing, he immediately began acting as if he wasn't in excruciating pain as he walked into the Hokage's office to listen to Anko's report to the Sandaime on the skill level he had supposedly shown yesterday. He couldn't help but feel relieved that there were no members of his graduating class in there, rather, there was an oddly dressed man with large eyebrows and a rather odd taste in clothes, a boy that could have been his son, or perhaps a twin that happened to be a midget, a rather haughty boy that he could only identify as being part of the Hyuga clan, and finally a girl with a rather large amount of weapons secreted somewhere on her person, if the smell from the amount of weapons oil wafting off of her, at least to Naruto's sensitive nose, wee anything to go by.

They appeared to be about to begin a debriefing of some sort, though Anko appeared to be trying to cut them off and handle her business first. Naruto knew Anko wasn't trying to be rude, she just wasn't patient by any stretch of the imagination, at least for things like these. In the field was another matter entirely, as she liked to toy with her prey when allowed, and her games sometimes required an excessive amount of patience.

She appeared to have managed to annoy the Hokage as he looked at her with a faintly twitching brow, something Anko knew she took a secret pride in. The Sandaime was practically the poster boy for grandfatherly patience, and she could push him to the edge like no other. "Anko, unless you wish to report on your student's capabilities in front of Team Nine, you'll wait."

Anko rocked back on her heels, slightly lowering her shoulders as her right ear moved almost imperceptibly, he eyes flickering back to look at Naruto. To anybody else, the movements, while noted, would have been passed off as normal bodily ticks, but to Naruto, who had often trained beside her, and had helped develop the somewhat blunt, if effective, secret language, her question was as clear as day. by flicking her eyes back to look at him, she implied a desire to answer the question that he could negate by openly asking her to wait. The lowering of her shoulder's and the slight movement of her ear both indicated that while she would downplay his abilities, something Naruto knew because Anko was a kuniochi to the bone, she was asking if she should downplay towards the lower or higher end.

Naruto glanced down, communicating that she should downplay towards the higher end. Internally, Naruto grinned. Intricacies amused him, and helping Anko make that secret language had been deeply amusing, even if the situations it could actually be applied to were almost guaranteed to be suicide missions.

Grinning internally at her friend turned student, Anko immediately responded, her and Naruto's byplay having taken less than a second. "Very well sir. Genin Naruto's skills in genjutsu are dismal, though he has a certain amount of immunity to them, his sense of smell being keener than most normal shinobi's. As for ninjutsu, despite having chunin level control and kage level chakra reserves, Naruto has few ninjutsu, nor do they truly seem to have a place in his combat style.," here she paused for breath, eve as Naruto laughed internally. True, his reserves were large, but they weren't just kage level. Naruto would genuinely be surprised if there were more than three or four people in the world with more chakra then him.

Sure that Naruto was laughing to himself, Anko carried on. "His taijutsu capabilities are solidly around low to mid chunin level, although…" Purposefully trailing off, Anko waited for some suspense to build before carrying on with the breathiest, most awe-struck voice she could muster. ".. He's an artist with a sword." she half whispered, almost feeling Naruto's appreciation. His skill in kenjutsu was one of the few things that Naruto took pride, and Anko knew he would find it unnecessarily galling to hide his best skill. It was actually something he refused to do, as he felt it would dishonor both himself, as well as Hayate, who was a Tokubetsu Jonin himself now. Shaking her head, Anko carried on. "All in all sir, I feel as if Naruto could hold his own against a mid-level chunin, maybe even a high level one."

The Sandaime reclined in his seat, taking in the information he had just received. He knew Anko had downplayed it. It was something he had known she would do, as he had rather purposefully granted her an on the spot opportunity for misinformation. It only made sense, as Team Nine almost assuredly knew about the upcoming Chunin Exams, and even if Naruto didn't, Anko definitely did. She might as well mess with the heads of the opposition while she had the chance. It was an elaborate game that Sarutobi supported, as it did help ensure only the beast passed. Still, if Anko was downplaying his capabilities, then in what way, he was sure it was in more ways than simply how strong he was. Perhaps he had other abilities, or the ones mentioned had more to them than that? Waving Anko and her apprentice out, the aging Hokage resisted the urge to rub his temples as he listened to how Team Nine had 'youthfully' eliminated the bandits pestering a nearby town, a borderline B-Ranked mission that the team had done admirably well on. Still, the Hokage couldn't help but idly wonder how one went about youthfully killing twenty-three grown men?

Scene Break

"You know the Hokage knows that was bullshit, right? I mean, the old bastard wasn't exactly born yesterday." Anko said as the pair made their way through the village, heading towards The Forest of Death.

Naruto nodded. "I know that he won't believe it, but Team Nine will, and the fewer people that know my full capabilities, the better."

Anko shrugged. "It's not like I left off very much. In terms of the amount of power that you can consciously channel, it's just about dead on."

"Ah, but you left a great deal of the actual skill unstated, and finesse beats out blunt force every time. Team Nine will think that I'm all but a juggernaut, all power, no substance, assuming that they can get my sword away from me." Exchanging glances, the pair grinned. "Yeah, I didn't think it was to likely either."

"Be careful my young apprentice, lest your greatest skill be turned against you." Anko said, going for a 'wise sensei' moment, only to be graced with a blank stare from Naruto.

"I'm not even going to ask how that applies to me, because I am genuinely afraid of what goes on in that twisted mind of yours at times." he deadpanned, making Anko rub the back of her head sheepishly. Shaking his head, he took off at a run towards the Forest, making Anko squawk with indignation as she began to race after him.

**It finally happened! My lemon in Serene Angel was finally reviewed! Thank you Michaelwillmc, wherever you are! Now I have more confidence toward my other work! The rest of you, read it to!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Well, I have received a fairly overwhelming response towards the positive, so I'm going to keep going in the direction I am, not that I wouldn't even if it had been negative. I don't think I'm really writing this story anymore, I'm just channeling it. Also, ChronoMitsurugi, if you don't like my story, why are you still reading it?**

**Disclaimer: Why oh God! Why hath thou wrought upon me such a wretched fate as to be forced to admit that Naruto is not of mine own making? Why must I bow to Masashi Kishimoto, the killer of beauteous woman, that genius of artistry and suspense, and his ownership of that glorious epic?**

"I said I was sorry Naruto!" Anko huffed from where she was sitting against a tree, trying to catch her breath. Said boy just looked up from where he was cleaning his sword and glared at her. In his defense, Anko could understand just why he was pissed. If she had been in his position, somebody would have been dead. Not that somebody wasn't already.

She and Naruto had been sent out of the village on a mission to investigate the area near Hibaku Fu, a small village near the north-eastern border of Hi no Kuni. The villagers said that recently part of their forest had turned dark and foreboding, and two of their citizens had gone to investigate, but never returned. When she and Naruto had arrived, they had decided to investigate personally, and that was when they ran into a hiccup in the form of one Shiza Kimatsu, a jonin-rank missing-nin of Kumogakure no Sato, and their supposed C-rank mission had jumped to borderline A-Rank. The fight had been short and vicious, with Shiza fighting to kill from the beginning, tagging Anko with a nasty Raiton jutsu that had left her barely able to move. Naruto had managed to occupy Shiza's attention long enough for Anko to recover, and through a bizarre series of movements, had clapped her hand over the other woman's mouth and summoned a seven foot python inside of her gullet. The missing-nin had been locking blades with Naruto at the time, so when the snake hammered its way out of the woman's chest, subsequently killing her, Naruto had been abundantly hosed down with gore. Ergo, he was rather unhappy at the moment.

"That shit got in my mouth Anko!" Naruto snapped as he got to his feet, sheathing his sword as he did. Shaking his head, he turned and began to stomp away. "I'm going to go get cleaned up. I saw a stream not too far away." he called over his shoulder. Anko shook her head as she closed her eyes, resting against a tree. Shiza's Raiton jutsu had left her entire body achy and sore. Letting herself relax, Anko drifted closer to sleep.

A few minutes later, a slight rustling was heard as two figures landed on the opposite side of the clearing, taking in the sleeping form of the Konoha kuniochi as well as Shiza's rather grisly remains. One of the figures appeared to be in his early twenties and had a mass of somewhat shaggy white hair, dark skin, and an overly large nose. Besides that, he had a cleaver like sword on his back, as well as a flak jacket with a single shoulder strap, along with several tattoos.

The other person was a light skinned blonde woman who appeared to be of nearly the same age. Her hair was tightly bound by white cloth, and had a purple and black shirt along with a pair of black pants, both of which had what appeared to be clouds on them. She wore purple fingerless gloves and had a string of white beads wound around her left hand. The hitiate of Kumogakure was proudly worn on her forehead, blatantly showing her allegiance.

The pair stiffened slightly at the sight of Anko, before the blonde nodded to the white-haired man. Their mission was highly dangerous, as their presence could cause a significant amount of trouble for their village. Maybe not a war, perhaps, but their Raikage didn't need a political headache. Witnesses simply couldn't be tolerated. Nodding his assent, the man moved over to Anko, never making a sound as he prepared to draw his sword. "Sorry about this." he muttered, slowly drawing the blade.

It was barely half out when he stopped and looked at his wrist, the sensation of something wrapping around it alerting him to something being wrong. He was somewhat wide-eyed as he came face to face with a rather large snake, its fangs bared and dripping with venom, a clear warning. The laughter of the kuniochi at his feet drew his attention back to her, and he wasn't surprised to see her looking up at him. "Well, I suppose that since you apologized that makes killing me all right?" Anko quipped, enjoying the man's confusion.

"A little help would be appreciated Yugito, unless you think this is to dull?" the man called to his partner. The reply wasn't entirely what he desired.

"I would love to help Darui, I really would, but there's a current demand on my attention." she replied pleasantly, making Darui slowly turn his head, as he didn't want that snake biting him. Dying of poison struck him as a rather dull way to go. Finally turning his head far enough, he was greeted with the sight of his partner standing with her arms crossed and hip cocked, looking entirely to relaxed given the sword held to her throat, pressing hard enough that a thin line of blood was already tracking its way down otherwise pristine flesh. She gave him a somewhat crooked grin. "This kids pretty good. He got me at the same time she got you, and I didn't even notice him coming."

"So, would the two of you like to tell us what Kumo shinobi are doing in Hi no Kuni?" Naruto asked from his position beside the taller blonde kuniochi, his eyes narrowing at her. She seemed to be almost familiar, but he couldn't place where he knew her from.

The woman shrugged. "We were tasked with bringing the traitor back, preferably alive, but dead was acceptable as well. Her trail moved into your country, and rather than fail our mission we followed, end of story." she commented pleasantly, making the other blonde nod. Her story did seem plausible enough, and was very likely what had happened.

By this time Anko had made her way to her feet, a pair of kunai gripped in her hands as she grinned at the pair. "Looks like you made a mess of things though, doesn't it?"

Yugito didn't bother to respond as she glanced at Darui. He gave a slight nod, indicating he was as ready as he could be. Immediately Yugito's eye's flashed purple as her arm snapped out, backhanding Naruto into, and through, a nearby tree. Almost immediately thereafter, her entire body was suffused in a purple shroud shaped somewhat like a cat as she turned her attention to Darui and Anko.

Darui, for his part, had managed to grab the snake before it bit him, causing it to poof away as it dispelled itself, but that's were things went wrong for him. Partially blinded by the smoke, he was further distracted by a painful stinging sensation in the back of his knee, the results of another snake no doubt, leaving him open to Anko's counterattack. Darting slightly to the side, Anko planted her foot and swung around, kicking the back of Darui's other knee and causing the tall man to begin to fall before she pivoted, the heel of her foot landing a debilitating blow on the falling man's jaw.

Yugito had just turned her full attention to Anko when she saw Darui begin to fall, and she rushed to support her comrade, but was forced to pull up short and jerk her head back as several kunai flashed through where her head and neck would have been. Turning her head, she locked eyes with Naruto's, the boy's left arm cradled to his abdomen and his vest gone. Unable to look away, Yugito's distraction cost her, as Naruto crossed the intervening distance faster than she would have thought possible.

Reaching the kuniochi, Naruto flipped his sword up into the air, Yugito's eyes unconsciously following it, before he leapt up, his hand wrapping around the taller woman's throat before he slammed her into the ground, cracks spider webbing from the force of impact. Reaching out, he snatched his sword out of the air, and once again Yugito was privy to the sensation of a razor sharp edge pressed to her throat. She idly noted the engravings of snakes that covered the surface of the blade as she locked eyes with the younger blonde, looking for any hesitation whatsoever. She was rather impressed to note that there was none. If he had to, this boy would kill her.

Glancing to the side, Yugito felt somewhat apprehensive as she noticed Darui's prone form, though he was thankfully still breathing. Sighing to herself, Yugito let her shroud fade away. Hoping that she hadn't caused too much trouble for Kumo with her capture. For once, Yugito was glad for her position as a political tool. It ensured that she would at least be treated with a small amount of dignity by Konoha.

Looking down at the kuniochi who had broken his arm, Naruto looked up at Anko before shaking his head. Anko rolled her eyes before she walked over. Catching Yugito's somewhat worried glance towards Darui, Anko shook her head. "You shouldn't worry. He'll be fine, just out for a few hours." she assured the other woman. She neglected to mention that he would wake up with the mother of all headaches, and would be sluggish for a few days afterwards. Poisons didn't need to be lethal to be deadly. Catching Naruto's eye, Anko sighed. "I'll be waiting for you. Make sure you hurry." After finishing, Anko walked out of the clearing.

Several possibilities ran through Yugito's head in less than a second, but what Naruto did next was completely unexpected. Straightening, he stabbed his sword into the ground before offering his hand out to the kuniochi. Not being one to look a gift horse in the mouth, she took his hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet. The possibility of attacking him had crossed her mind, but with Darui unconscious, there was too much risk involved, especially when you added in the fact that she was sure the boy was too fast for her to get a clean shot at. Rubbing the back of her neck, Yugito fixed Naruto with a rather confused gaze as the boy collected his sword and began to walk away, pausing at the tree he had been sent through to carefully pull on his vest before he sheathed his sword. "Not that I'm complaining, but what the hell is going on?" she asked, more than a little on guard.

Naruto looked at her and grinned. "Think of this as a gift to Kumo. You look rather content, given the fact that you're a jinchurriki," Yugito's back stiffened slightly. It wasn't often that an opponent actually knew what a jinchurriki was, and those that did tended to be dangerous in various ways, "From what I've read, jinchurriki tend to be filled with hatred, and hold the world in general contempt. So, like I said, a gift to Kumo for obviously doing something right when it comes to our kind." he said as he began to exit the clearing.

Yugito didn't miss his wording. "Our kind?" she questioned, arching her eyebrow.

Naruto paused and grinned at her over his shoulder. "I'll see about convincing Anko to fib on her report, but only this one time."

"You didn't answer my question Yugito said, narrowing her eyes.

Naruto's grin widened. "I didn't, did I?" Turning, he fully exited the clearing. Once he was gone, Yugito threw back her head and laughed. It seemed that the little blonde brat knew how to play. Turning her head, she sighed. Now she had to lug a corpse and Darui's useless ass back to Kumo. Then there was the matter of her report to the Raikage. She was fairly sure that he wouldn't be amused at her being defeated by some snot-nosed brat, jinchurriki or not.

A few minutes later, Anko pushed herself from the tree she was leaning against as her apprentice came into view. "What the hell did you want to talk to her for gaki?"

Naruto shrugged, wincing slightly as his arm was jarred. "She's the first other jinchurriki that I've met. I suppose that I wanted to see what she was like."

For some reason, this unsettled Anko somewhat, going by the perturbed expression on her face. "So what do you think of her?" she couldn't help but ask as she suddenly grabbed Naruto's broken arm and set the bone, causing the boy to give a small scream of pain.

Sweating slightly, Naruto stood still as Anko placed his arm in a make-shift sling. The two of them knew that given a couple days, three at the most, his arm would be as good as new. It would likely be healed before they even reached Konoha. "She didn't really disappoint. By the way, could you do something for me?"

Anko rolled her eyes. "Let me guess, you want me to neglect to mention their presence in Hi no Kuni?"

"Please and thank you? Naruto ventured. Seeing Anko's somewhat blank look, he sighed. "You wouldn't even be lying on a report if you only recount up to where you shoved a snake down Shiza's throat."

Anko sighed. "You should be glad that I feel like I owe you one gaki." she said, gesturing to the blood that still covered a large portion of his upper body. Her only reply was a brilliant smile from her young friend, said grin making her feel better about her decision.

The pair found a nearby stream for Naruto to wash off in, his muttered complaints drawing more than a little laughter from Anko. Before long, they were running through the treetops on their way to Konoha, moving at a pace that could be defined as blistering. Catching sight of something over the treetops, Anko descended to the ground, prompting Naruto to follow. Anko held up her hand to silence any questions Naruto may have had, then raised her arm. Naruto's unasked question was soon answered when a messenger hawk flew down and settled onto her arm. He couldn't help but groan internally. A message during a mission could only mean a change in the mission's parameters, which was never a good thing.

Scowling slightly, Anko threw the hawk into the air before turning southeast, taking to the treetops again as she made for the coastline. Naruto frowned as he followed. Anko wasn't angry, as most would assume. No, at the moment she was worried. "What's going on?" he queried, hoping it wasn't serious.

Anko glanced over her shoulder, debating on whether or not to tell him. She knew he would only get angry. Ultimately she decided that it would be better for him to find out now rather than wait until they got there. If her found out now, he would have a chance to calm down. Sighing, she glanced upwards momentarily, as if to ask Kami why things always had to be so damn complex. "Team Seven's had a hiccup in their mission that was similar in nature to ours."

Naruto stiffened slightly. That was Kiriko's team. They had passed their sensei's test by the skin of their teeth, and had been doing pretty well as far as missions went over the last two months. "What happened?"

Anko shook her head. I don't know gaki. All I know is that a member of the team got hurt badly enough to warrant Kakashi requesting back-up."

An uneasy feeling mad its way through Naruto, causing his blood to run cold. "Which team member, and how bad?"

Anko was beginning to think that telling him at all was a bad idea, but decided to be honest with him. "Kiriko, and badly enough that Kakashi expressed his doubts as to her ability to survive, let alone carry on being a kuniochi." she told him, her voice starting out blank, but carrying a worried and sorrowful tone by the end.

Naruto let out a loud growl as his eye's flashed to crimson red. Seizing Anko, causing said teenage girl to give an indignant exclamation along with a slight blush, he took off sprinting through the trees at a rate that Anko knew would leave all but the fastest shinobi in the dust. Though she was somewhat angry and embarrassed, she decided to bear the indignity until they reached their destination, as Naruto would get them there faster than anybody else would be capable of. Speaking of which. "Naruto!" she shouted over the sound of the rushing wind, Naruto's speed forcing her to narrow her eyes slightly. A twitch in his ear showed he was listing. "We're headed to Nami no Kuni! The bride-builder Tazuna's house!" A grunt was Naruto's only reply, but Anko was satisfied that he understood. Settling into his arms somewhat, she idly wondered how strong he had to be to be wearing weights, as well as carrying her in a bridal carry, and still be able to move as quickly as he was, which was around three times faster than her top speed.

Scene Break

Naruto had indeed set an unrivaled pace across Hi no Kuni, Arriving at the coastline at an extreme speed. Anko, still somewhat achy from their encounter with Shiza, had fallen asleep in his arms, only to be woken by sea spray as they hit the coastline and Naruto tore across the waves without even slowing down. It was somewhat awe inspiring to see an eight foot column of water hanging in the air behind Naruto. Shaking her head, Anko closed her eyes, unconsciously burrowing deeper into Naruto's arms as she resumed her nap.

Finally, as dawn was breaking, they arrived at Nami. Naruto let Anko down at this point, as he seemed incapable of speech, and they needed to ask directions. The citizens were only too glad to point the way to Tazuna's home, what with Naruto glaring at them. So it was that a somewhat well-rested Anko and a haggard looking Naruto arrived at their destination. Anko had to give Naruto credit, as he did knock. However, when the door was opened by the Uchiha, said clan scion found himself flying as Naruto shoved past him, followed quickly by Anko, who snagged him and Sakura before throwing them down next to their sensei, who hadn't even moved from the table, though he had put his book away.

Kakashi raised his only visible eyebrow as he looked at Anko. "Your entrance seemed a little excessive, don't you think?" Looking at the stairs that Naruto had disappeared up, the cyclopean ninja narrowed his eye. "What's your student doing anyway?"

Anko sighed. Why did Naruto always land her in situations like this? Sometimes she thought he did it to annoy her. "Kiriko is one of Naruto's oldest friends. He's understandably worried about her." Sitting at the table, she covertly summoned several snakes and ushered them towards their targets. Kakashi caught her at it, but she'd expected him to. Looking at a woman standing by the side of the room, as well as a small boy who was glaring at her and an old man who smelled strongly of sake, Anko rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Sorry about the hasty entrance. My name's Anko, and the blonde blur was my student, Naruto."

The woman waved away the apology, a gentle smile settling onto her lips. "It's no trouble at all. My name is Tsunami. This is my son Inari," gesturing at the small, angry little boy, " and Tazuna, my father," gesturing to the old, smelly man.

Suddenly everyone in the room froze as a malicious, animalistic chakra settled down on the rooms inhabitants. It was only made worse by a chakra presence that followed right on its heels, one that was just as malicious, but seemed to be purely _wrong_ as well. Kakashi scrabbled for a crutch at his side that Anko hadn't noticed, making her sigh in relief. If he wasn't at his peak then he couldn't stop her. Kakashi stopped moving when he felt no less than tree large snakes on his lap. Looking over, Sasuke was in a similar predicament, though Inari and Sakura had fainted, and Tsunami and Tazuna seemed to be on the verge of hyperventilating. He glared at Anko, silently demanding an explanation. She smile apologetically. "Kiriko is healing. It's for your own health that you don't interfere. Trust me on this. When she's in the state she's in now, she can't tell friend from foe. She'll attack anything that moves. The only one that's safe is Naruto." For a moment, Anko's eyes looked faintly haunted, but it was gone so fast that Kakashi wasn't sure if he had been seeing things or not.

A few minutes earlier, upstairs

Naruto gently opened the door, seeing Kiriko's limp form under a blanket, lying on a bed in the corner. Moving over, he pulled back the cover, disturbing the girl, who gave a slight whimper. Naruto's breath hissed through his teeth as he beheld the full extent of the damage done to the girl. She had been left topless, and for good reason, as there was a long, deep gouge across her ribcage, or at least what was left of it. At least one of her lungs had been punctured, and several organs heavily damaged. Ignoring her less than presentable state, he kneeled down, sighing as he did so. "Wake up, Shiki." he whispered.

Kiriko's tattoos began to glow an eerie green as Shiki opened her eyes, the violet orbs darkening several shades. She moaned slightly. "Kiriko cannot last for much longer. She is dying, and I am dying with her. These wounds, they sap our life force."

Naruto nodded. "I know, which is why you and Kiriko need to listen to me right now. You both need to let go of dominance and meld together."

Shiki's eye's widened. "No! Kiriko and I promised each other that we would never do that again, not after what happened last time!"

Naruto shook his head. "This isn't last time, I am prepared this time," here his eyes softened, "and I have long since forgiven you."

Shiki appeared indecisive for a moment, then nodded. Taking a deep breathe, she closed her eyes. A few moments later, the glowing tattoos lengthened, growing down to just under her eyes in length while the outermost curved down to her jaw. Her back arched as her eyes, now a purple so dark they were almost black, snapped open. The wound on her torso began to his as a brilliant emerald chakra began to play over the length of it, healing at a rate that would seem impossible. A powerful, animalistic chakra settled in the room, and Naruto surged the Kyuubi's in response, something he had been working on since he discovered its presence, forming a crimson shroud around himself, though no tail formed.

Kiriko surged onto all fours as her ribcage finished healing, sniffing Naruto's form furiously before giving a contented growl. Rubbing her head against his knee, she curled up beside him, falling asleep moments later, the animalistic chakra cutting off quickly after, allowing Naruto to cut off the flow of the Kyuubi's.

Downstairs, everyone began to breathe easier as the two chakras lifted. Anko dismissed her summons with a small sigh. She was in such deep shit. She winced when she met Kakashi's glare. "I think we need to talk, Anko." The words coming out as more of a growl. Pulling himself to his feet with his crutch, he shuffled outside, Anko following somewhat despondently.

Once outside, Kakashi gave her a hard look, reminding her that despite his current condition, the man was a world renowned legend as a shinobi, and more importantly, he was her superior. "Would you care to explain to me just what that was in there?"

Anko winced. She hoped Kiriko and Naruto knew just what she had risked for them. This was borderline treason, and could cost her more than her career, it could very well cost her life. "It was a safety precaution. It's an A-class secret of Konoha."

Kakashi nodded. "Not to be divulged unless necessary huh? Well that's good, because if you want to keep your head firmly attached when we return to Konoha, you had better start talking."

Anko shook her head, somewhat rattled by the threat. "I know the secret, if only because of extenuating circumstances, and am therefore party to its protection. I don't have the clearance to tell you."

Kakashi paused, before he continued. "So if it's not your secret to tell, then it's either Naruto's or Kiriko's. That doesn't matter. You will tell me now, or at the very least, your career is over."

Breathing deeply, Anko shook her head. Kakashi sighed. "Get out of my sight." Anko needed no further prompting, happy to escape him. Few and far between were those who saw that side of Kakashi and lived to tell the tale. Kakashi tolerated no threats to his comrades to survive. As she headed into the home, Anko knew her career was over.

Kakashi took a deep breath, before looking to the side. "So, is Kiriko okay?" he asked, genuine concern in his tone.

Naruto stepped from the shadows. "She'll be fine after a little sleep."

Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief. "You wouldn't happen to know about an A-class secret?" he queried, taking a shot in the dark.

Naruto crossed his arms, seemingly staring through Kakashi. "I do."

Kakashi locked eyes with him. "I need to know. If it can have any effect on my team or its missions, I need to know."

Chewing on his lip, Naruto reluctantly nodded. "It was something of a gross oversight on the Hokage's part that you weren't informed of it upon becoming her sensei. You know those tattoos on Kiriko's forehead? Well, they are somewhat related to Anko's curse mark in nature."

Kakashi's eye visibly widened. "She has a curse mark?"

Naruto shook his head. "The two are related in that they achieve similar effects in terms of chakra potency, reflexes, and strength, but the similarities end there."

Kakashi was somewhat confused. "Then what the hell is it?"

"Kiriko rather playfully dubbed it the 'Wolfling Feral Mark', which is somewhat appropriate." Naruto said, hesitating slightly, before turning and walking to a nearby tree and leaning against it. Catching Kakashi's questioning look, he groaned. "Well known fact: Anko is my best friend. Little known fact: I've been studying her curse mark since I knew what fuinjutsu meant. At one point, I figured that if I could recreate it, I could unravel it." Naruto shook his head, as if to imply the stupidity of that decision. "I wasn't about to use part of myself in its creation, like Orochimaru did his. Instead, I ran several experiments using the blood of a couple of species. Well, none of it was working. I discovered that there was a genetic part to the curse mark that I couldn't replicate, but I left the experiments running, if only to see what would happen."

Taking a deep breathe, Naruto continued, while Kakashi was amazed. The level of knowledge not only in fuinjutsu but in the science of the world around them required for such a thing was daunting, even for him. "Around eight months before we graduated, Kiriko came looking for me at the apartment. She disturbed one of them, and ended up acquiring the Feral Mark. It was everything I designed it to be, but with a flaw. An instinctive personality that calls herself Shiki was birthed within Kiriko's own. She has her own unique skillset, and is just as, if not more, dangerous than Kiriko."

"If you could do it once, why not do it again?" Kakashi asked, as it sounded like an incredible improvement.

Naruto shook his head. "I refused. In fact, I demanded that it be recorded as a forbidden technique. Hokage or not, the techniques created by me are mine to do with as I please. Now, something you need to know. When Shiki and Kiriko meld personalities, their strength and speed increase exponentially, to the point that a jonin class shinobi can barely keep up, and they gain a high-level healing ability, but all that power comes with a trade-off. Without any higher personality in full control, the body goes into an instinctive auto-pilot. In a state of extreme confusion, it lashes out at almost everything. The first time this happened, I beat her, hence she acknowledges me as her superior. It's the only reason I'm safe around her."

Kakashi nodded his head. That was definitely a forbidden technique. He knew he'd go insane if he had to deal with it. Naruto began to walk towards Tazuna's home. Pausing by Kakashi, he locked eyes with the elder shinobi. "By the way," pausing, his eyes flashed red as Kakashi felt a crushing killing intent levered onto him, "You _are not_ going to mention this in your report. Also, Kakashi, don't ever threaten Anko again." His piece said, Naruto carried on into Tazuna's home.

**A.N. I feel as If this won't be very well received, but I couldn't help it. It's just how it flowed.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Good news! I can finally move my body without everything aching! Well, its good news to me, the rest of you probably don't even care. I've also been getting in touch with my inner badass. How you ask? Well, by reading pretty much anything that Kenchi618 writes, that's how. I love damn near everything he writes. His Naruto's are always differing mixtures of asshole and awesome. It's great!**

**Also, I get mixed reviews on Kiriko. Personally, she just sort of sprang fully formed from my mind, so I like her and she's here to stay. She's going to have a decent roll in the chunin exams arc, as well as a part in the Sasuke retrieval arc. After that, she'll have a few minor rolls, as well as one more big one. She's pretty damn important to Naruto's character evolution in later chapters.**

**Disclaimer: Okay, we've been over this; I don't own Naruto because Kishimoto is a big meanie who will sue me if I say I do. I think he's just jealous because my Naruto is so much more badass than his.**

Kiriko moaned lightly as she stretched, having just woken up for the day. Cracking an eye, she was immediately aware of Naruto's presence, sitting cross-legged beside her sleeping roll. "I take it that it worked?" Rolling over to look out the window, she was able to see that it was the pitch black of early morning, somewhere between two and three. Dawn was still a few hours away.

Naruto smiled at his friend. "Like a dream. There isn't even a scar." he said with a wide grin. "You've been asleep for about seven hours."

Groaning, Kiriko pushed the blankets off of her, only to blush furiously as her chest was bared to the world. Snapping her eyes over to Naruto, she was somewhat relieved to see him covering his eyes. Snagging her pack, she dug through it to find a change of clothes, then quickly pulled them on. "You can look now." she said, smiling mischievously. The moment Naruto removed his hands; his head was being cradled to Kiriko's bosom. "You take such good care of your Kiriko. Your such a good boy!" she cooed, much to Naruto's embarrassment. Her ramming his face into her chest he could handle pretty easily as his sensei was Anko, but Kiriko didn't coo, ever. It was fairly creepy.

Thankfully, the two of them were interrupted by a cough from the doorway. Prying himself from Kiriko's arms, Naruto looked over to see Anko, and the look she was giving him sent shivers down his spine. "Kiriko, if you're done molesting my student," cue a light blush from Kiriko, "I have some questions as to his sanity. Also, do me a favor, and stomp on Kakashi's testicles for me?"

Looking between her two friends, Kiriko was immediately aware that Naruto had done something stupid, again. "Sure thing!" she chirped, snapping of a smart salute before making herself scarce. When those two had spats, things were broken, and Kiriko was not volunteering to be broken. She giggled slightly as she hunted for her sensei's room. After all, she was under orders, wasn't she?

Back in the room, Naruto started to climb to his feet, only to be met with a kick in the face, courtesy of his enraged sensei/best friend. "What kind of retarded are you?" Anko asked as he slowly climbed to his feet, clutching at his right eye. "On second thought, don't answer that, I really don't want to know what possessed you to think that threatening Kakashi Hatake would be a good idea."

Naruto glared. "He threatened you. That's enough for me."

Anko pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "It's not like he was going to hurt me. I would have lost my job, and that's about the gist of it."

Naruto shook his head. "That's not all and you know it. Anko, you're a jonin. If your removed from duty for any reason besides retirement, your confined to Konoha for the rest of your life. Besides that, what the hell would you do? For the vast majority of shinobi, we just aren't qualified to do anything else.

Anko blinked. She actually hadn't thought about it, but Naruto was right. As a jonin, she knew too much about Konoha for her to ever leave if she were removed from active service. With her skill set, as well as the animosity that some of the villagers and shinobi still felt for her, she would probably end up on the streets eventually, if only because she was Anko Mitarashi, and she didn't take any damn handouts!

"Look, gaki, it's nice that your thinking of my best interests, but despite how good you are, Kakashi would tear you apart." she said.

"Oh, I know." Naruto said nonchalantly, shocking Anko somewhat. "I stand zero chance against Kakashi. Thing is though, my threat was more than enough to get him to reconsider, wasn't it?"

Anko blinked again. He was right. Not too long after Naruto had spoken with him, Kakashi had approached her and rescinded his threat, saying that she had been in the right, as the secret hadn't truly been important to the mission's completion. "That's why you did it, huh?"

Naruto nodded. "Your my sensei. If I don't look after you, who will?" He gave a startled gasp as Anko appeared next to him, drilling a punch down onto the top of his head, sending him crashing to the floor.

Anko grinned down at her student/best friend as he rolled onto his back. "Just don't do anything that stupid ever again, okay?" The two friends grinned at each other, Anko knowing that what she had just said went in one ear and out the other; while Naruto knew he'd do it again if he had the chance. A strangled cry of masculine agony broke the moment. Naruto clutched at himself in sympathy even as a proud smile spread across Anko's face. "I knew there was a reason I loved that girl so much!" she said, a single tear of pride forming at the corner of her eye as another scream broke the silence, this one adolescent in nature. "She even got that brat Sasuke too!" she exclaimed happily. Taking note of the sick look on Naruto's face, Anko's grin widened. It was going to be a very good day.

Scene Break

Naruto was flowing through the katas for his kenjutsu style, moving with a deliberate slowness that belied the speed at which he could actually move. As he carefully stepped around the clearing he was in, he reveled in the silence around him. Soon though, his quit was interrupted by his sensei, who entered the clearing muttering angrily under her breath. Stopping his movements, Naruto sheathed his blade, rubbing the back of his neck as he did so. Looking at Anko, who was now glaring at a tree, he couldn't help but wonder what was wrong. "So, out of curiosity, who's pissed you off this time?" he asked, subtly preparing to run away if it was him.

It seemed that that question was all that was needed to set off the powder keg of Anko Mitarashi's temper. "Kakashi is the laziest, stupidest, most retarded dumbass I've ever met!" she screeched, making Naruto jump slightly.

"You do know that three of those things mean pretty much the same thing, right" he asked, only to pale slightly as Anko levered a glare at him. "I'll just shut up now."

"That idiot hasn't taught those brats a damn thing! All he's done is teamwork drilling and basic academy level workouts! What's worse, he doesn't believe me when I tell him that h's screwed up! The only one of the three that's actually at an acceptable level for a mission of this caliber is Kiriko!" Anko raged, beginning to pace around the clearing.

Naruto quirked an eyebrow. "You do realize that their just normal genin right? We can't expect them all to be like me."

Anko turned to Naruto, her eye twitching. "He hasn't even taught them the tree walking exercise, that's what he's teaching them now!"

Naruto frowned. "That _is_ retarded. So what's Kiriko doing?"

Finally, Anko's customary smirk made its way onto her face. "She complained that her ribs were hurting too much for the training, and then promptly walked away before Kakashi could say anything. Odds are she's going through her own regimen somewhere around here."

Naruto smiled. That sounded like Kiriko, though it didn't bode well for the team as a unit. Kiriko was by nature a people person, something that had become instinctive with the application of the Feral Mark. If she didn't want to be around her team, that meant that they had been judged, and found to be not even worth the effort of helping. He was brought out of his thoughts when Anko snagged Naruto and began to drag him through the forest. Seeing his questioning look, Anko smirked viciously. "I think it's time Kakashi had a wake-up call. We're going to do a series of sparring sessions, and you're going to take on Kakashi's entire team." Naruto's eye's widened before he shook his head. This was not going to end well.

Anko dragged Naruto into the clearing that Kakashi's team was in, Kiriko following behind them, the pair having stumbled across her training on their way over. Dumping Naruto on the ground, she looked over at Kakashi, who as per usual was reading his smut while he observed his two students. "Hey Kakashi, I had an awesome idea!" Anko crowed, all but vibrating from excitement at the prospect of watching _her_ gaki crap all over Kakashi's gaki's.

Kakashi graced Anko with a glance. "Oh? And what idea would that be?"

Naruto was genuinely worried now as Anko was all but bouncing. She had to really want to smear Kakashi's face in the fact that he was a crap teacher. "Well, I was thinking that we should have a sparring match between genin, you know, to judge relative skill so we know how to use them for the mission."

Kakashi blinked. It actually wasn't that bad an idea, and his students were all pretty fresh. Nodding his assent to Anko's idea, he called Sasuke and Sakura over, explaining it to the two of them. Sasuke grinned at the prospect, while Sakura leveled a triumphant look at Naruto. "Ha! Now Sasuke-kun is going to kick your ass Naruto, and everybody will know that you and your teacher are worthless jokes!"

Naruto leveled a dead-pan look at Kiriko, who shrugged, as if to say that Sakura really was that stupid. Anko's smile never even faltered as she started dragging all the genin to the center of the clearing. Jumping next to Kakashi, she rubbed her palms together in anticipation. "Gaki, give it to me." she said, looking at Naruto, who only sighed before surrendering his sword into her care. "Okay, here we go! Team Seven versus Naruto! Hajime!"

Kakashi's eye widened. "What are you doing?" he half-shouted, taken completely by surprise with Anko's maneuver. He was unprepared for Anko's grim expression as she looked at him.

"I'm showing you just how much you need to pull your head out of your ass and actually teach these kids." was her only reply, nodding her head towards the developing scene of his team versus her lone apprentice.

Kakashi shook his head. "You'll regret handicapping your student. I think that you'll be surprised at what they can do, especially Sasuke."

Anko grinned. "Please, that little brat? he couldn't hold a candle to Kiriko, let alone Naruto. If his ego is as big as I think it is, Nami no Kuni might not survive when it gets punctured today."

As soon as the words were out of Anko's mouth, Kiriko knew that she had been had. Grabbing Sasuke and Sakura, she immediately leapt back, putting a good thirty feet between them and Naruto. Letting go of the two of them, she ducked, narrowly avoiding a backhand from Sasuke. "You might be weak enough to need to be cautious with him, but don't ever pull me from a fight again, or you'll regret it!" he growled at her as he began to rush Naruto, with Sakura cheering him all the way. Catching the look on Naruto's face immediately after Sasuke had tried to hit her, Kiriko couldn't help but be worried about her teammates continued existence as he closed with her blonde friend.

Reaching Naruto, Sasuke threw a powerful haymaker with his right arm, thinking it would be enough to take Naruto out of the fight. He expected Naruto to at most dodge it, and was prepared so that he didn't overextend himself. What Naruto actually did caught him wholly by surprise.

Watching Sasuke launch his assault with a detached expression on his face, Naruto took half a step back. However, instead of letting the fist sail by, he cradled his right arm to his body and swung out with his elbow, smiling slightly as he felt something shift in Sasuke's fist as it impacted on his forearm, near the elbow joint. Clenched fist meets one of the hardest areas on the human body? It was no contest from the start.

Sasuke faltered slightly as his hand ignited with pain. He only had enough time to ascertain that his hand wasn't broken; it just felt that way, before his momentum carried him within arm's reach of Naruto, who hooked his left hand onto the back of Sasuke's neck, pulling the young Uchiha face first into another swing with his elbow, followed quickly by another. Badly disoriented, Sasuke was helpless as Naruto seized his wrist and twisted his left arm behind his back and yanked, dislocating his shoulder with a sickening popping noise. Sasuke was unable to even cry out in pain before Naruto, now behind Sasuke, hooked his hand around Sasuke throat and lifted before driving the back of Sasuke's skull into the ground with crushing force, the young avenger going limp as he succumbed to sweet, sweet unconsciousness.

Sakura stood somewhat paralyzed as she watched Naruto rather coolly dissect her crush, before a vein began to twitch in her forehead. "NARUTO!" she howled, cracking her knuckles as she did so. "YOU CAN'T DO THAT TO SASUKE-KUN!" Stepping forward, fist held up to clobber Naruto, Sakura halted in her tracks as he turned his emotionless gaze onto her. Something about the way he looked paralyzed Sakura. Unable to move, unable to even speak, she could only watch as Naruto calmly walked by her, ripping her throat out as he passed, leaving her to collapse onto the ground, a gurgling death rattle coming from her ravaged throat.

Blinking, Sakura's eye's rolled up into the back of her head as she fainted, the sharp scent of urine filling the air as the young girl had obviously pissed herself, which was understandable, as the amount of killing intent that Naruto had used was enough to have Kakashi sweating. It made the amount that Zabuza had used look like a bucket next to a lake.

Sneering in disgust at her useless, and idiotic, teammates, Kiriko glanced at Naruto, who was now looking at her, waiting for her to make the first move. In response, Kiriko raised her hands above her head. "I surrender." she deadpanned, making Naruto crack a small smile at her.

Giving an expectant look at Anko, he smiled happily as she tossed his sword back to him. Sheathing it, he ran his hand over the hilt lovingly before he nodded to Anko and Kiriko, leaving the clearing without ever having actually said a word.

"I don't think I need to tell you how bad that was Kakashi." Anko said before leaving the older man to stew in his thoughts. She was absolutely right, he realized. What Naruto had just done was horrendously embarrassing for both him and his genin. He had literally never even broken a sweat. His team needed serious training, because Kakashi knew Sasuke wasn't going to let this go, and if he tried to challenge Naruto now, it was likely that the young blonde could very well accidently kill him.

Looking at his only conscious student, who had taken it upon herself to kick Sakura awake, making a face at the smell, he couldn't help but voice the theory he had formed after seeing Kiriko's actions at the start of the spar. "You knew that was going to happen, didn't you?"

Kiriko shrugged as she kicked Sakura's prone form again. "I didn't know that it would go exactly like that. I thought we would have acted as more of a team, but even then, the end result would have been our loss."

"Do you really think so little of your own skills, as well as your teammates?" Kakashi asked, genuinely curious.

Kiriko snickered. "Yeah, we just got a great show of their _skills_." she said, contempt all but dripping from her voice when she said skills. "As for my own, their good, but Naruto knows every move I have, while I honestly couldn't tell you a quarter of what he can do, and what little I do know, it's impossible to predict when he'll use. I'm the only genin here that can hang with Naruto in combat, and even then, it's only by comparison. He'd tear me apart in less than a minute, much like he did Sasuke and Sakura." Upon saying her teammate's name, Kiriko again kicked the prone girl, this time pulling a moan from the girl as she began to slowly wake up

"Well, why didn't you try to at least help the other two?" Kakashi asked, though he felt he already knew the answer.

"It's actually pretty simple. I don't trust either one of them. Sakura, as proven, is absolutely useless, and Sasuke? If he were told he would gain power by driving a kunai into my back, well, I'm pretty damn sure that I would be pushing daisies by now. Actually, now that I think about it, Sakura would probably do it if he asked her to." Kiriko said, her tattoos pulsing slightly as she spoke, the calm and collected way she spoke of it belying her worry of something like that actually happening.

"It's pretty sad that you don't trust your own teammates, Kiriko. Not to mention how unfair your being in your judgments of them." Kakashi said reproachfully, only to be surprised by Kiriko's sudden glare.

"You think it's sad that I don't trust them?" she hissed, taking her teacher by surprise with the sheer amount of anger in her voice. "They need to prove that their worthy of my trust. As for my judgments, well, time will only tell, and I can only hope that it doesn't cost me my life to show you their natures! Sakura is a weak little coward, and Sasuke is about three inches away from going bat-shit insane, _sensei!"_ she said through gritted teeth, spitting out the word like it had left a bad taste in her mouth. Turning around, she stormed away.

As she left the clearing, Kakashi realized with a sinking feeling that she didn't trust him either, and that hurt him more than he would have thought. Kiriko was an odd mix of fun loving and level head that was oddly endearing, and to realize she didn't trust him left a hollow feeling in him that he couldn't quite name. Looking down at his other two students, he felt a pang of disappointment as he realized that her fears, while fairly excessive, weren't entirely unfounded. He found himself wishing with all his might that Kiriko was completely mistaken about them.

Scene Break

Dinner that night was surprisingly quit, given the fact that Sakura refused to acknowledge Naruto's existence, Sasuke spent the entire meal glaring at the blond with his arm in a sling, and Tsunami's young son Inari spent the meal glaring at everyone from Konoha. Naruto, Anko, and Kiriko spent the meal whispering in one another's ears, Kiriko and Anko frequently giggling and smirking, while the only word to describe Naruto's expression was content, a small smile gracing his lips, which was itself an infrequent occurrence.

Their peaceful dinner was interrupted by Tsunami's son slamming his hands onto the table, drawing the attention of everybody else. "You should all just go away!" he screamed, angry tears leaking from his eyes, his face creased by a heavy glare. Tsunami moved to pull the young boy into a hug, but he shrugged her off. "Don't you get it; Gato's going to kill you! No one can stand up to him, he's too powerful!" Seeing the unimpressed looks on the shinobi's faces seemed to enrage the boy further. "What right do you have to be here anyway? How could any of you possibly understand how much we've gone through, how much we've lost? None of you could possibly understand our pain!" Taking a deep breathe, he opened his mouth to shout some more, only for the words to freeze on his lips as he registered a sharp prickling sensation in his chest. Glancing down, his eyes followed the sword prodding his sternum to Naruto's now expressionless face.

"If life is so horrible for you, perhaps I should end it now?" Naruto asked, his voice almost dead and his eyes devoid of all emotion. Seeing Inari begin to tremble, Naruto snorted derisively, lowering his blade. Standing, he gave a nod to Tsunami as he sheathed his sword. "My apologies, but I appear to have lost my appetite." Straightening, he walked out of the home, followed shortly after by Anko, who was trying her hardest not to look worried.

Surprisingly, Kiriko was the first to move, standing and ushering the still shell-shocked Inari up the stairs before anyone else could speak. Pushing the young boy up the stairs, she guided him into his room and sat him on his bed. Crouching down to his eye-level, she heaved a sigh. "You do know that you came across as a spoiled little brat down there, right?"

These words seemed to jolt Inari from his stupor. "I'm not spoiled, you all just don't understand what I've been through!" he half shouted, glaring at the brunette in front of him.

Kiriko shook her head. "Listen kid, shinobi aren't the people that you complain to about these kinds of things, usually because they've been through worse. Let's take Sasuke, Naruto, and Anko for example. Anko, betrayed by a man she thought of as a father, a man that she practically worshiped. Naruto, alone since he could walk, ostracized by the rest of the village for things beyond his control. Then there's Sasuke, whose beloved older brother slaughtered his entire family in front of him. As far as a bad life goes, those three own you so bad that you should be thanking Kami every day that you aren't them." During the entire time she was speaking, she kept her eyes locked on the boy in front of her.

Inari was stunned by what he had heard, but then he rallied. "What about the rest of you?"

Kiriko shrugged. "As far as a bad life goes, I suppose that mine and Sakura's haven't been too bad. However, Anko and Naruto are my best friends, which by extension makes their pain mine to share, and help bear the burden with them as best I can, even if it's only by always being there for them. Sakura, I think princess is the only way to describe her, but everybody has their own pain, so who knows. Kakashi-sensei," here she paused, "I'm actually not too sure. He gives out so little information about himself that his past is really hard to read. Thing is though, he spends so much time looking at the Memorial Stone, the place where we record the names of the Honored Fallen, that I'm sure he's lost a lot of people that were important to him, family and friends alike. Coming to shinobi expecting any kind of pity party is kind of like fishing without bait on the hook. You can leave the hook out there for a while, and you might snag the stupid ones, but the smart, fat ones are just going to think you're a dumbass." Standing up, she left an open-mouthed Inari to mull her words over in his mind. Meanwhile, Kiriko was blushing lightly as Shiki began to tease her about her future prospects as a mother, as well as supplying various images of her and Kiba being intimate. She silently cursed having an alternate personality that enjoyed teasing her even as she filed the images away for later.


	6. Chapter 6

**Once again I return. I apologize for the late update, but hey, inspiration didn't strike, and I Have obligations that unfortunately supersede any others. I only recently got back from a training exercise in California, and my poor computer was in Kentucky. I had my phone, and that was it.**

**Disclaimer: These disclaimers may be why I have trouble with inspiration, as acknowledging that I don't own the multi-million dollar franchise known as Naruto is rather depressing, wouldn't you agree? I'm gonna go cry now.**

The morning dawned crisp and cool, bringing with it a light fog as well as the singing of birds in the small forest in Nami no Kuni. Walking through the trees and enjoying the sweet trilling of birds was a young man, who's long black hair and pink kimono made mistaking his gender very easy. Carrying an empty basket in his clasped hands, the boy presented a picture of carefree innocence for the world to see. Walking into a clearing, he stopped and tilted his head slightly as he beheld the figure of a blonde preteen boy sleeping with his back against a tree and his arms crossed in front of him.

Glancing at the blonde's attire, the young brunette narrowed his eyes as he caught sight of the hitiate around the blonde's throat. As the brunette was thinking about what to do, his thoughts were interrupted by the blonde's voice. "I can't help but wonder what a girl like you is doing out in the woods alone at this time in the morning." The blonde said as he opened his eyes, fixing the piercing blue orbs onto the warm brown of the other boy, who was mildly angered at his gender being mistaken once again.

Still, he smiled before he answered. "I just came out to pick some herbs. A dear friend of mine is very sick, and the village is out of medicine." Walking the rest of the way into the clearing, he began to search through the grass and shrubs, occasionally adding an unidentifiable bit of greenery to his basket

Sitting up, the blonde stretched, groaning as he did so. "My names Naruto. What's yours?" Naruto asked cracking his back before he stood.

The brunette hid a smile as he turned. "It's Haku, and by the way, I'm a boy." Haku stifled a laugh as Naruto's eye's widened and his jaw went slack, before he recovered, shaking his head.

"I've heard of pretty boy's but this is just ridiculous." he muttered, much to Haku's secret fury. "Still, don't you think it's a little dangerous to be coming out here all alone?" he asked, only to be taken aback by Haku's gentle smile.

"My friend is precious to me. I would give my life for him in a moment. Don't you have anybody precious to you?" Haku asked, idly picking more herbs as he continued the conversation.

Naruto frowned as he thought. "That depends on what you mean by precious."

Haku paused, gathering his thoughts. "Someone you would do anything for, anything they asked, even if it was monstrous." he refrained from continuing with his search, wanting to hear the young shinobi's answer.

"There are a couple people like that for me, though one stands above the rest." Naruto paused as Haku turned his eyes onto him, obviously prompting him to continue. "My master is my best friend, and I would do anything for her, become anything she needed me to be."

It was hard for anyone to hear the longing in Naruto's voice, but Haku wasn't just anyone. "You want to be more than just her best friend, don't you?" he asked, turning to face the young blonde.

Naruto locked eyes with the other boy momentarily, before turning away. "I can't deny," he whispered, pausing to lick his lips before continuing, "that having a relationship with Anko is one of my fondest dreams, but I don't deserve her. She's violent, hard-headed, impulsive, and never really listens to anyone's advice, but at the same time, everything about her is wonderful in a way that I just can't describe." Shaking his head ruefully at having been so eloquently loose tongued, Naruto waved goodbye to the other boy as he left the clearing, lost in thought.

Shortly after, with the herbs he needed, Haku left the clearing as well. As soon as the brunette was out of sight, Anko leapt out of the trees, the remnants of a blush still leaving her cheeks. Looking in the direction Naruto had gone; she couldn't help but shake her head sadly. She knew she was going to have to confront Naruto about his feelings, and more specifically, about his feelings of self-worth, but before she could do that, she had to sort her own emotions out. It was uncommon for the snake wielding kuniochi to be confused about how she felt, and it irritated her. Shrugging off her irritation, she followed Naruto back to Tazuna's, keeping her friend safe, just as he had always kept her safe.

For the rest of the day, Anko kept her distance from her young apprentice, something made easier by his decision to go train in the forest, trying to sort out her feelings, as well as trying to figure out how best to confront Naruto about his, something that was no easy task, even for a woman as self-confident as her. That night, as she lay down to sleep, she resolved to talk to him the next day, though she was still somewhat unsure as what to say. After all, how often do you find devotion in those that believe themselves to be unworthy?

The following morning dawned with fog and a slight chill, but the shinobi and Tazuna's family were dauntless as they went about getting ready. Even Inari seemed to have turned a new leaf, something which his mother was glad for, as she had almost forgotten her sons smile. Still, as the group left Tazuna's home, Kakashi couldn't help but feel on edge, as if something big were coming. With this in mind, he left Sasuke behind, mollifying the boy by telling him that he felt that Tazuna's family needed a competent guard, as well as Naruto, something that caused both boys to glare at him.

Walking down the path at the front of their little group, Anko glanced at Kakashi out of the corner of her eye, something that the legendary Konoha Nin picked upon easily. "Is there something on your mind Anko?" he asked mildly, his eyes never leaving his well-thumbed copy of Icha Icha Paradise.

The younger jonin shook her head. "Not really, just wondering what possessed you to put those two together is all."

Kakashi shrugged, turning a page as he did so. "Overall, Sasuke and Naruto are the best close-range fighters we have. Kiriko favors mid-range while Sakura, well, she's learning." he said, starting off strong but finishing with a sheepish edge to his voice. "Within the confines of a house like Tazuna's, they would be able to exert the closest to a hundred percent of their capabilities of anyone here."

Anko nodded. It made sense, but the arrangement still troubled her. "You do know that Naruto really doesn't like Sasuke, right? We're talking the 'if you die I'm going to defecate on your tombstone' kind of dislike here."

Kakashi's single visible eye glanced at Anko. "Will he be able to control himself?"

Anko shrugged. "That depends on if Sasuke starts anything or not. I can guarantee that if anything does happen, it won't be Naruto who threw the first provocation. Of course, if he does put the Uchihaling into traction, well, I guess I couldn't blame him."

Now Kakashi was giving her his full attention. "Why would you say that?" he asked as his thoughts raced, combing his memory for any reason for Naruto to have that kind of underlying animosity."

Anko graced Kakashi with a look that communicated in volumes just how stupid she thought the question was. "How would you react to somebody who is given everything you yourself could have possibly desired, only to spit on it?" she asked, a venomous undertone present in her voice.

Kakashi blinked before turning back to his book. "Well, I suppose when you look at it from that perspective, I would be rather irritated. Still, I don't really think that we have anything to worry about with those two."

Anko nodded. "That's true. Even if a fight did break out between them, Naruto would just subdue your student and carry on with his duty." she said briskly, enjoying the oh-so-minute twitching of Kakashi's fingers as her barb struck. It might not have been a bulls-eye, but it was on the board, and Kakashi was a notoriously difficult target when it came to veiled insults. It was a game played by many shinobi, the insults and verbal barbs. Anko figured that flirting with danger got addicting after a while, and there were only a handful of people in the world more dangerous than an angry Kakashi Hatake.

With a snap, Kakashi closed his book and put it away as they came to the bridge, which had been enshrouded in a dense fog. Momentarily locking eyes with Anko, he nodded as the pair cautiously entered the mist, gesturing for Kiriko and Sakura to stay back and guard the client.

Tazuna's Home

Calm blue eyes surveyed the area around Tazuna's home as Naruto kept watch, letting nothing escape his notice. Still, as attentive as the boy was, he couldn't stop his mind from wandering, as it almost always did, to Anko. He absentmindedly fingered a scar through the fabric of his vest, unable to stop from remembering the sequence of events surrounding it. It was his reminder, constantly there to greet him in the mirror every morning, of why he didn't deserve Anko. Consciously, Naruto knew that Anko trusted him like she did no other, and to be honest, he was pleased by that, but there was always a niggling doubt in the back of his mind that he wasn't good enough, that if she got closer to him then she already was, something terrible would happen to her, and Naruto knew he would never be able to forgive himself if that happened.

The swishing of greenery alerted Naruto to visitors, and he could see the shrubbery of the forest shaking near the edge of the clearing. Quickly and stealthily, Naruto made his way over to the disruption, coming to a rest on a branch over the heads of what appeared to be two samurai wannabe's. One had a grey hair with a purple beanie and a grey hoodie with a sword sheathed at his waist. He looked bored as the other; a bare chested and battle-scarred brute with one eye was using his sword to cut up a nearby tree. "C'mon Waraji, we're on a bit of a tight schedule here. The boss said to be at the bridge twenty minutes ago."

The now named Waraji chuckled as he sheathed his sword. "Alright, alright! Quit your yapping Zori, I'm just having a bit of fun. I gotta get it all outa my system before we pick up Tazuna's daughter, or she might not make it to her dear old dad in one piece!" Waraji said in a tone of deep amusement.

Zori shook his head. "Don't you know anything? Tsunami is quit a looker, and when you have a woman like her in your arms, the last thing you need to worry about is killing her."

At this, Waraji let out a bark of laughter. "You're absolutely right! Hey, do you think the boss'll care if we have a little fun with her beforehand?"

A wicked smile grew across Zori's face. "All the boss said was alive. He never said unspoiled."

As the two men laughed, they were completely unaware of Naruto standing in the dense foliage directly overhead, twitching from rage. His mind was yanked from the present and thrust back two years, to that night, and with a wordless howl of rage he descended on the two swordsmen.

Zori and Waraji were expert swordsmen, they had trained for most of their lives with the blade, but they were completely unprepared for a raging shinobi to come crashing down on their heads, almost literarily. Waraji was dead before he had fully realized there was a threat, Naruto's unsheathed blade cutting him in half from head to groin before the young blonde whirled to engage Zori, the two halves landing on the ground with a wet thump, Waraji's innards spilling onto the ground as they did so.

Zori was barely able to comprehend his partner's demise before he was fighting for his life against a small shinobi. Naruto used his smaller size completely to his advantage, forcing Zori to block his seemingly frenzied attacks in an uncomfortable manner, the blocks coming a hair to slow. Within seconds Zori was bleeding from almost a dozen minor, but painful wounds before, with a flash of steel and a howl of agony, Zori was separated from his hands and fell to his knees, clutching the stumps to his chest. With a growl, Naruto reached out and grabbed Zori's chin, forcing him to lock eyes with him. "Where is Gato?" Naruto growled, slightly pointed teeth bared.

Zori was pale from blood-loss and fear as he stuttered out a reply. "With th-the rest of the m-men, wa-waiting to ambush wh-whichever group of shinobi wins at the br-bridge."

Naruto couldn't help the feeling of unease that settled on him. Standing up straight, he was about to rush to the bridge before his eyes landed on Zori's moaning figure, and a disgusted sneer crossed his face. The forest's peace was violated by an agonized scream of pain that went on for several seconds before being suddenly cut off. A shadow raced through the tree-tops, leaving a pile of gore where it had previously been, Zori's body having been cut into almost a dozen separate pieces. It was unfortunate for Zori and Waraji that an all-encompassing hatred of rapist's had been instilled in Naruto, and that they had discussed such things where he could hear. Most unfortunate indeed.

Tazuna's Bridge

Kiriko glared at her opponent as she ran through strategies to dealing with this, to quote Shikamaru, 'troublesome' opponent. Almost immediately after Anko and Kakashi ha entered the fog, the sounds of combat had begun to emanate from within. That was when Kiriko's opponent had struck, attempting to bypass both girls and strike directly at Tazuna. Thankfully, unlike Sakura, Kiriko had been paying full attention to her surroundings, and had managed to intercept the masked shinobi, though it had been a close thing. Looking her enemy over, Kiriko noted that the shinobi matched the description of the Kiri hunter-nin given to her after she had woken up. Wearing a green battle-kimono along with a mask, her opponent's sex was impossible to tell, not that it really bothered her. Kiriko reached down and grasped the newest additions to her outfit, a pair of triple-bladed glaive's, their blade collapsed like a fuuma shuriken one on top of the other and bent at a near right angle just before connecting to a ring at their base.* A gift from Naruto, Kiriko had designed them, Naruto had simply tweaked the design for added attack power. However, Kiriko was unsure if her level of mastery over them was sufficient, and so would be using them as melee weapons strictly. With Naruto's tweaks, fouling up in their use was more likely to be fatal to her than her opponent.

Kiriko and the masked nin locked eyes, at least as far as Kiriko could tell, and then exploded into motion. Within a second the two had closed the distance between them and begun to trade strikes, glaive against senbon. The masked nin immediately discovered he was at a disadvantage, as Kiriko's glaives were much longer than his senbon, and being edged weapons first and foremost, allowed her to be much more fluid in her movements than he was, making dodging all but child's play to her, while his own senbon, without the advantage of a cutting edge, forced his strikes to be a jabbing motion, leaving him open for a split second that Kiriko ruthlessly capitalized on repeatedly. Mere seconds after engaging, the first blood was taken by Kiriko as she twirled around the nin's senbon enhanced jab, snapping one of her glaives open and ripping a shallow cut across his forearm.

With a pained hiss, the masked nin jerked his arm away and leapt away from Kiriko. Behind his mask Haku was sweating heavily as he once more locked eyes with Kiriko. '_This girl is very skilled. I will need to be careful.'_ he thought. Thankfully, he had prepared for this eventuality, and engaged Kiriko once again, this time directing the movement of combat over to where there was a large puddle of water for Haku's jutsu. As soon as Kiriko set foot in the puddle, Haku began to flip through hand seals with one hand, startling the girl even as he maintained his offensive. Landing on the last seal, Haku leapt away calling out his jutsu as he did. "**Sensatsu Suishou!**"(Death By A Thousand Flying Water Needles)

Kiriko watched, torn between awe and consternation, as the water around her lifted up weightlessly and formed into hundreds of water senbon before flinging themselves at her. From where he had leapt, Haku watched as the needles closed in on his opponent, and then his eyes widened in disbelief as her tattoos, which he had discounted as simple body art, glowed a sickly green. In a flash, Haku's jutsu was dispelled, and Kiriko was crouched on the ground, both her glaive's extended, one in front of her, the other behind. Fully extended, Kiriko's glaives had a diameter nearly as wide as her arm was long, a fact she had used to great advantage in combating Haku's jutsu.

Haku could only stand dumbfounded as his opponent stood. If he didn't know better, he would say his opponent had switched out with a twin. The way the girl held herself had changed drastically. Where before she had the iron hard gaze of an embattled kuniochi, and had held herself confidently, this one was an entirely different creature, her eyes gleaming with open amusement, standing with her hip cocked, her entire pose spoke of a blatant arrogance. The one before had been simply battling. This one was luxuriating in it!

Snapping her glaives closed, Shiki eyed the boy across from her. She licked her lips slightly as she ran her eyes up and down his frame, giggling when he shivered slightly. Pointing one of her glaives at him, Shiki winked. "Sorry to say it, but Kiriko tagged out. The names Shiki. Remember it; because it's the name you're going to be screaming by the end of the day."

Haku's eyes widened behind his mask in surprise and pain as he threw himself backward. The girl was deceptively passed, having covered twenty feet to say her final words inches from his face as her weapon had dug a bloody furrow into his chest. Meanwhile, his mind whirled with the complexities of facing a shinobi with multiple-personalities. It wasn't unheard of for a shinobi to have more than one mind inside their head. What was unheard of was the ability to willfully change out which mind was in control. Haku was in over his head, and he knew it. He would have to use his last surprise, and hoped it worked on this kuniochi, who was cackling madly as she gave chase to him.

With Kakashi, Anko, and Zabuza

For the umpteenth time Anko mentally praised Kami for the flexibility her taijutsu style enforced as her spine bent at angles no human should achieve and survive, the back of her head nearly touching her spine as she ducked another swing of Zabuza's sword. Truthfully, at the moment, she was something of the odd man out. Kakashi and Zabuza were tearing one another apart. Whenever Zabuza actually attacked her, it could be compared to throwing a dog a bone. This was actually fine with her, as for the better part of their battle; Anko had been carefully laying a series of gas tags along the bridge's surface. If Zabuza was going to make the mistake of underestimating her as a viable threat, he was going to pay for it in the best way possible to Anko's wind; violently vomiting blood before expiring painfully shortly after. She could have used exploding tags, but poison gas was more fun, and more importantly, she had built up an immunity to the poison in question over time. While Zabuza would at least be startled and worried about the poison, Anko would be able to just bull right through it, likely ending their battle shortly thereafter.

The sound of feminine cackling brought a short pause to their battle as the three elite shinobi tried to figure out where the sound was coming from. Suddenly, Anko giggled herself, prompting Zabuza and Kakashi to look at her. Looking at them both, she smiled merrily. "It looks like Kiriko let Shiki out to play!"

Kakashi's eyes widened slightly in understanding, While Zabuza narrowed his eyes in the direction the laughter was coming from. Kiriko had been the name of that little kuniochi who had been so bothersome to him when he had first encountered the Konoha-nin. He knew he had cut the girl nearly in half. What kind of capabilities did she have if she was capable of combat such a short time later, and who or what was this Shiki? There was also the matter of the purple haired kuniochi fighting alongside Kakashi. She was keeping up easily, and had forced Zabuza to abandon more than one plan, not to mention he had to keep making water clones to disable the tags she kept laying, and he was sure he had missed a few. A flicker of unease raced through him. He and Haku had engaged these shinobi without any kind of decent Intel, and he had a sneaking suspicion that they were both about to pay.

Shaking his head, he hefted his blade and re-engaged his opponents. The only way out for him and Haku was to kill the other shinobi, something he was only too happy to do.

With Sakura

The genin pinkette stood transfixed as she watched the only battle she could see, the one between Kiriko and the hunter-nin. She couldn't help but be in awe of Kiriko's skill, not to mention her fearlessness. She remembered Team 7's bell test, and how she watched as Kiriko had repeatedly engaged Kakashi with those strange weapons of hers. At the end, with a desperate throw of one of them, Kiriko had managed to cut the string holding the two bells, before giving them to Sasuke and Sakura. Thinking back, Kiriko had been genuinely angry that Kakashi had passed them as a team, and Sakura somewhat understood now. Even if she and Sasuke trained themselves into the ground, it would be months before they were her equal, and Kakashi would be unable to give her the training she needed until then, essentially stalling the brunette in her training. It was frustrating, of that Sakura had no doubt.

With Kiriko and Haku

Shiki watched with amusement as her opponent ran through several hand seals before he called out another jutsu. "**Ninpo: Makyo Hyo Sho!"** (Ninja Art: Demonic Ice Mirrors)

The effects were unsettling, making the impulsive Shiki regret allowing him to finish his jutsu. Squaring her shoulders, Shiki glared at the mirrors surrounding her now, and the reflections of her opponent in each one. She began twirling her glaives until the edges blurred together. If the boy wanted to up the level of the battle, she would oblige, but this fight was far from over. She still had a trick or two up her sleeve, all she had to do was wait for an opportunity.

***For those looking for a good image, or are wondering about why I'm talking about a pole-arm in such a way, Google Image Dark Sector Glaive and I think you'll get it.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I claim no ownership to either the characters or the setting of Naruto. These belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

_Thoughts_

**Demons/Summons/Shiki**

Jutsu

Kiriko ground her teeth together as she deflected yet another volley of senbon from her opponent. Truthfully, it was beyond maddening. It was obvious that her opponent was becoming exhausted, but so was she. Spinning her glaive's so fast that the blades blurred together provided her with a more than adequate shield, especially giving their size, but her wrists were aching from the constant movement, and she didn't have to look at them to know that her fingers were shredded, the blood leaking from them making controlling her glaives harder than it needed to be.

Finally, she made a mistake, her fingers slipping on one of her glaive's rings, as slick as they were with her own blood. Kiriko and Shiki could only watch helplessly as the weapon flew away, landing with an ominous clattering noise. She was already bringing the other one around, but knew that it wasn't enough to completely shield her. However, just as the next volley was about to hit her, there was a flash of steel in the air, and multiple things happened at once. First, one of the ice mirrors surrounding her shattered. Second, the volley of senbon that had been hurled at her vanished, and third, Kiriko felt herself hoisted up by the nape of her neck and thrown bodily from the area. Landing harshly on her side, Kiriko skidded for a few feet before kipping back to her feet. Moving carefully, she set herself in a guard stance next to Sakura, mentally sneering at the pinkette as she quivered.

Sakura, for her part, was terrified. All she knew was that Kiriko, a kuniochi who was undoubtedly stronger than her, was looking far worse for wear, with blood leaking from both hands and her left arm, which looked like someone had run a cheese-grater over it. Terror, however, wasn't nearly enough for her to keep her mouth shut. "What the hell is happening out there?" she demanded, making Kiriko wince at her volume.

Grinding her teeth together yet again, Kiriko wondered idly on what strange world was Sakura qualified to be a kuniochi before she answered. "Right now, Kakashi-sensei and Anko-sensei are fighting Zabuza, and from the sounds of things it's a pretty dead-even heat. As for the hunter-nin, Naruto just got here, and their facing off with each other."

'_**Of course, now that Naruto's here, the poor fool that we were facing stands zero chance of victory, and between him, Anko, and Kakashi, we're guaranteed to win.' **_Shiki thought, Kiriko nodding in agreement. She was right, though in a way that neither persona could have predicted would happen.

Naruto stood, blade held in front of him as he observed the images of the masked nin in front of him. '_If I'm going to make use of what I know about Gato's plans, then I need to do it in such a way that makes Zabuza and his accomplice question them on their own.'_ He thought, eyes flashing from one reflection to another. "I was wondering, after those two lowlifes captured Tsunami and brought her here, what exactly where you plans for her?

For his part, Haku was perplexed as he pondered Naruto's words. '_Why would Gato have Tsunami captured and brought here? I can understand having her captured period, but why bring her here? There's no point unless Zabuza and myself lose. I know Gato's type; he doesn't do anything without a purpose, so why?'_

While he was pondering this, Naruto took the opportunity to make another observation, inhaling deeply through his nose and picking up the unmistakable odor of stale sweat and rusted metal. "By the way, I wonder what you think all those thugs in the boats at the end of the bridge are going to do except fall like a heap of dry leaves in the face of a hurricane?"

Startled, Haku, already off-center and beginning to doubt Gato's intentions, paled beneath his mask as he sensed the presence of Gato's hired muscle exactly where Naruto had said they were. Having served a missing-nin all of his life, this wasn't the first time that a client had tried to double-cross the pair, and the duo had long since worked their response to such an occasion. Without another word, Haku disappeared from the mirrors, the technique collapsing immediately afterwards.

Meanwhile, Zabuza's battle had not been going as he had planned either, Anko's presence having completely thrown off the plan he had made for Kakashi. After the third time he had nearly been poisoned by the snakes she had begun to leave strewn about in the mist, he had been left with no other choice than to directly engage the snake-wielding kuniochi, something that was much harder than it sounded, as Kakashi had twigged onto his intentions almost immediately, leading to said cyclopean ninja nearly taking his throat with a well placed strike while he had been locked up with the surprisingly strong woman. Sensing Haku's familiar presence appear behind him followed immediately afterward by a sense of vertigo, Zabuza knew before he and Haku had emerged on the waters below that Gato had decided to double-cross the pair. Trusting his long-time partner's instincts, the infamous duo made themselves scarce.

Back up on the bridge, Naruto sighed in relief. He was far from fond of killing, and anytime he was granted an opportunity not to was a good day. With the mist clearing up, he quickly moved to Anko's side, laughing at his master's perplexed expression. Looking around, the eccentric kuniochi's face scrunched up. "Where the hell did they go?" she shouted, crossing her arms as she pouted childishly.

"What, did you not get your quota of blood spilled for the day Anko?" Naruto teased, laughing at his best friend's expression.

"NO!" she roared, obviously not amused, making Naruto back up with his hands raised, not wanting to set off the unpredictable temper of his best friend and sensei.

"Don't worry Anko; Gato was kind enough to provide us with enough sport to sate your bloodlust a dozen times over." Naruto said, pointing at the end of the bridge, where Gato and several dozen mercenaries and thugs could be made out in the slowly clearing mist.

"So, you managed to catch on to us so quickly, huh? Oh well, sometimes plans do fall through. I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting those two to run like cowards, but I guess you can never really predict people." Gato said, entirely to smug as he stepped from the crowd of his hired muscle. Seeing Anko tense, he held up his hand, wagging his finger in a patronizing manner. "Ah, ah, ah, make one more move and Tazuna's pretty little daughter will be the first one to pay." Seeing Tazuna's face pale, the petty little midget laughed. "Right now, I'm sure she's enjoying the tender mercies of my best men."

Naruto smirked. "Your best men wouldn't happen to be a gay one-eyed freak all tatted up and a real aversion to wearing a shirt, and his beanie wearing bitch would they?" Naruto's smirk turned into a feral grin as Gato faltered in his movements. "Cause I'm afraid both of them are getting acquainted with the many pieces of themselves. Sadly, they made a mess all over the forest floor in the process of doing so."

Gato had grown steadily paler during Naruto's taunting, while Tazuna breathed a sigh of relief. Shaking himself, Gato regained a portion of his prior confidence. "It doesn't matter. Your all still outnumbered a dozen to one!"

Naruto shook his head. "I'd suggest you count again." Cutting his hand open, Naruto flipped his sword into the air and flew through hand seals before slamming his hand onto the ground, crying out the name of his jutsu as he did so. "Ninpo: Kuchiyose No Jutsu!" (Ninja art: Summoning technique!) In an explosion of smoke, the thugs and Gato unwittingly took a step back as a horse sized fox appeared on the bridge, with the fangs and claws that went with such a large size.

Taking out a kunai, Anko licked its edge as she prepared for combat. "This almost makes up for Zabuza being gone. Sometimes quantity does trump quality!" Looking at the fox from the corner of her eye, Anko grinned. "Does the giant fur ball have a name?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, he's named Hyogamaru. He's the boss summon of the foxes." The shinobi present let their eyes wander over the sleek lines of the giant fox. It was almost entirely black, with only its tail deviating, instead being an almost pearly white hue.

Gato meanwhile, had recollected himself. "You think some overgrown mutt is going to be enough to save you? Please, I'll kill you all here." Pausing, a thought seemed to occur to Gato as he looked over the opposition. "Although, I will admit, the woman here are absolutely superb." He said as his eyes wandered over Sakura, Kiriko, and Anko. "The one that's all bloodied up, I think I'll give her to the boys here. The pink haired one will fetch a very good price on the market, and as for the other," here he paused, licking his lips. "I think I'll break her in myself."

Back by Tazuna, Kiriko and Sakura had paled, though for entirely different reasons. "Sakura, Tazuna, if either of you get squeamish at the sight of a lot of blood, I'd suggest you look away." Seeing the pairs questioning looks, Kiriko quickly explained. "Me and Anko are Naruto's closest friends. Combine that threat with the fact that Naruto hates rapist's with an unholy vengeance, and you'll understand just what he's about to do."

Anko grimaced, putting her kunai away. Noticing this, Kakashi raised an eyebrow at her actions. Noticing his look, she shrugged. "Naruto isn't going to leave all that much when he's done with these guys, so there isn't any point in the rest of us fighting anymore."

An extraordinarily potent killing intent came crashing down on the bridge. Naruto, who's eyes had turned purple, was far from amused at Gato's insinuations. Tossing his sword into the air once more, he reached up and unzipped his vest, throwing it to the side. The vest hit the ground with a crash, deep cracks in the bridge's surface spider-webbing away from the point of impact just as Naruto caught his sword, twirling it with a flourish. In a flicker of movement, he appeared in front of Gato, the small millionaire having collapsed to his knees in the face of Naruto's fury.

Seizing the cowardly midget around the throat, Naruto brought him up to face level. A disgusting smell reached Naruto's nostrils as the wannabe tyrant defecated, losing control of his bowels from sheer, mind-numbing terror. "That was something you never should have said." Naruto growled, almost seeming to bite the words as they passed his lips. Looking past Gato, he pointed his sword at the amassed thugs. This was all the signal that Hyogamaru needed as the giant fox hurled itself at the crowd of what was, at least to the fox, a giant crowd of meat. The howls and screeches that followed were nightmarish, as Hyogamaru's obscenely strong jaws easily sheared through clothe, flesh, and bone alike.

Lightly tossing Gato into the air, Naruto seized the corrupt shipping magnate by the ankle and slammed him into the ground, his head connecting to the stone of the bride with such ferocity that it exploded in a shower of gore. For all his money and plots, Gato's end was somewhat underwhelming in spite of its grisly appearance. Turning his attention to the screaming crowd of mercenaries, many of whom where now fleeing, Naruto made to chase after them, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. Twisting around, his anger faltered at the steady look that Anko was giving him. "They've had enough. Let the rest go." Growling for a moment, he nodded, dismissing Hyogamaru, whose one luxurious black fur was matted with blood, his tail long having turned almost completely crimson.

Screaming, the rest of Gato's men fled the bridge, many of them sporting giant bite marks that they would carry for the rest of their lives. With an irritated grunt, Naruto jerked his shoulder out of Anko's grip, and collecting his vest, disappeared from the bridge. Kakashi was more than a little confused at this course of events, but decided to leave it for later as he tended to Kiriko's wounds. Wrapping her arm, Kakashi graced his young charge with a large eye-smile. "Kiriko, I cannot tell you how proud I am of you. You fought like a true kuniochi today, and I have a feeling that one day you'll be a living legend."

Kiriko gazed at her teacher searchingly, looking for any kind of deception, more than able to see the unspoken olive branch that her sensei had extended, before offering a hesitant smile. She'd believe him, at least for now. "Do you really think so?"

"Kiriko, you more than held your own against an opponent that Zabuza himself admitted was capable of being more dangerous than he was. That is an accomplishment that you should be proud of." Kakashi reassured the girl, grinning underneath his mask at the wide smile that the girl graced him with. He made a promise to himself to be more supportive of the girl. He hadn't been lying when he said he saw her as being capable of being a legend one day. It was now his job to make sure she survived long enough to become one.

Later on, as they were resting at Tazuna's home, Naruto seemed more pensive than usual, and this worried Anko. Finally growing tired of her apprentice's silence, she dragged him out to the dock. "Are you going to talk about whatever the hell is bothering you, or are you going to be a little bitch about whatever it is?" she demanded, her face inches away from Naruto's own, her scowling features filling Naruto's now wide eyes.

Blinking, Naruto gave her a small smile. "I'm sorry if I worried you, its just I realized something today."

Anko sighed. "What exactly did you suddenly realize that has you so depressed?"

Naruto's smile grew sad. "It's just; I realized that no matter how small the peace, even if it's just for the Land of Waves, it's always built on blood. I was just thinking of how many would need to die for peace to settle on this continent."

Anko blinked. That was a rather depressing thought. Shaking her head, she hugged her friend in an uncharacteristic display of affection. "Don't worry about that now. Just concentrate on how things are going in the here and now, not in the possible future, okay?"

Naruto grinned, returning his friends hug. "I can't make any promises, but I'll try." Suddenly, Naruto's demeanor brightened. "Come on, I actually have a present for you." With a somewhat bemused grin on her face, Anko allowed herself to be dragged back into the dining room, where Tazuna's family as well as Team 7 were resting comfortably and chatting amiably with one another. Naruto forcibly sat her down, hurriedly telling her to wait before he disappeared upstairs.

Noting the somewhat perplexed looks on the others faces, Anko shrugged. "Gaki said something about a present. I guess he wants you all to 'ooh' and 'aah' wherever appropriate."

Naruto's return was announced with a loud rumble of feet coming down the stairs before two scrolls were slammed onto the table in front of Anko. Looking up into her friends face, Anko was somewhat taken aback by the wide grin on Naruto's face. "Well, are you going to open them or not?" he demanded, prompting Anko to pick up the closer of the two scrolls.

In a small puff of smoke, a pair of kunai appeared on the table though these were slightly different than a normal kunai, seeing as how they seemed to have had their blades sheared in half at a severe diagonal angle. Seeing Anko's questioning look, as well as the faces of everyone around, Naruto grunted before picking one up. "Ok, these here are one of a kind. Their designed specifically for people with a fire nature, but anyone can activate their base ability." In a burst of flame, an almost two foot blade of fire sprouted form the kunai, making Anko's face take on an appreciative look. "The charka drain, while constant, is negligible while in this base mode. Of course, someone with a fire nature would be able to do things with these that I would never dream possible. These were actually pretty easy to make once I managed to sync the charka conversion seals and the charka stabilization seals up with the charka shaping seals. The forms that these babies can take are limited only by the user's imagination."

Anko was grinning widely by now, and couldn't wait to test them out once the pair got back to Konoha. Unnoticed by the others at the table, who were all somewhat wide-eyed at the complexity of the gift, one face in particular had darkened slightly, knowing full well that he had a fire nature and finding himself somewhat covetous of the weapons that seemed tailor made for him.

After pocketing her new toys, Anko reached for the other scroll. In a significantly larger puff of smoke, a dark purple trench coat appeared, which Naruto swept off the table even before the smoke had cleared. Holding it up, Naruto appeared to be throwing sales pitch for a new product as he explained this pieces capability. "This one was really tricky, as I wanted something that would be comfortable enough for everyday wear, but strong enough to stand up to heavy combat as well. I eventually settled on a soft leather exterior and a wool interior, with several pieces of hardened leather strategically placed between these layers throughout the coat," pausing, he pointed out these pieces in the forearms, the small of the back with what looked like a spine guard, and right where Anko's ribcage would be when worn, "there are also charka dispersion seals liberally placed throughout, making it far more likely to hold up to ninjutsu techniques. As for the final part," here he exposed the interior of the cuffs as well as the breast, "these are high quantity storage seals, capable of holding nearly a hundred of whatever your preferred weapon is, though the larger the weapon, the smaller the quantity actually held."

Anko wasted no time in seizing the piece of material from Naruto, transferring all of the weaponry deposited in her current coat into the seals Naruto had placed on the new one before switching coats, shifting the new one until the spine guard rested comfortably on her back, sighing at how comfortable it actually was. Naruto picked up the two scrolls before bouncing up the stairs to seal them away. Meanwhile, Kakashi's sole visible eye had a somewhat flabbergasted look on it, something Anko took an inordinate amount of pleasure from. "Did I forget to mention that Naruto is something of a genius swordsman and is a master of fuinjutsu? Oh, dear me, however could I be so forgetful." She proclaimed, putting the back of her hand to her head in a dramatic manner.

Kakashi swallowed audibly. "How good is he, really?" That Naruto had been good was something he understood when he trounced Sasuke, the so called rookie of the Year, so thoroughly, but he had never imagined what he had just seen happen right in front of him.

Anko sighed. "To be honest Kakashi, I couldn't tell you. Without a sword, Naruto is dangerous off of pure trickiness alone. With one, I don't think it would be all that much of an exaggeration to place him at nearly my own level. He's worlds apart from your genin in terms of skill and as for raw power, its almost scary how much he has, and that's without tapping the you know what."

Kakashi nodded, still somewhat shocked. It would seem that his sensei's legacy was powerful in his own right. Whether that would be good or bad would be something that he would have to see with his own eyes at a later date. While all of this was going on, Sasuke's face had darkened considerably as jealousy became an increasing factor of his current mood, something Kiriko had noticed, prompting the young kuniochi to narrow her eyes at her teammate, mentally reminding herself to keep a closer eye on her slightly unstable teammate.

The next day dawned bright and clear as the Konoha shinobi set off to return to their home, the entire population of wave gathering to see off their heroes. With great shouts of admiration, at their heels the Konoha shinobi walked away, felling a deep-seated sense of accomplishment. As they disappeared into the distance, Tazuna stood at the foot of his own bridge, grinning from ear-to-ear. "Well now, the only thing that this thing needs now is a name. Anybody have any suggestion, since I'm sure if I tried to name it 'The Super Bridge That Tazuna Built', my daughter would clock me on the head with a frying pan!" he joked, prompting said daughter to blush furiously.

For a few minutes everyone was silent, before Tsunami herself spoke up, having had the details of the battle relayed to her by her father. "How about we call it the 'Great Fox Tail Bridge'?"

Tazuna rubbed his chin thoughtfully before grinning once more and nodding. "That's as good a name as any that I've ever heard. Everybody, three cheers for The Great Fox Tail Bridge!" A mass of cheers rose from the crowd as the newly freed people of the Land of Waves celebrated their independence from the tyrant Gato, as well as celebrating the shinobi who had risked their lives to make it so.

On the path home, Kiriko drew up next to Anko as the group tore through the trees at a breakneck pace. "I'd keep an eye on Sasuke if I were you."

Looking at the younger kuniochi out of the corner of her eye, Anko quirked an eyebrow. "Any particular reason why, or are you talking about in general?"

"You didn't see his face last night. I've never seen anyone look so jealous and angry before." Was Kiriko's reply. Biting her lip, Kiriko glanced at Sasuke, who was leaping through the trees in front of them. "Anko, sometimes Sasuke scares me. Sometimes, he scares Shiki."

That information caught Anko's attention. Shiki did not scare easily, and when she was, her instincts were always spot on. If Sasuke's actions actually scared Shiki, then he was more than a simple flight risk. She would have to find a way to present her fears to the Hokage in such a way as to prompt the aged leader to take some kind of definitive action, something that would not be easy in any way, shape, or form. "I'll do what I can to take care of it. Do you need any help watching your own back?"

Kiriko shook her head. "I'm sure Kakashi-sensei won't let anything to bad happen to me. Besides, I can take care of Sasuke in a heads up fight all on my own. To be honest, I'm more worried about him poisoning me. We are trained assassins after all."

Anko rolled that thought around before shaking her head. "That doesn't match up with what I know of Sasuke's psych profile. He has an inferiority/superiority complex. If he tries to kill you, he'll be blatant about it. He'll want you to know it was him. Still, to be on the safe side, when we get to Konoha, I'll loan you one of my summons. She'll be able to sense any poisons that you yourself can't pick up" Slightly relieved, Kiriko nodded her agreement. The other's, unaware of their exchange, continued on toward Konoha, riding the high of completing a high risk, or in Naruto and Anko's case, two high risk, missions. All too soon, everything would change, and not for the better, but for now, they were content.


End file.
